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UC3NN  LIBRARIES 

Due  9/27/2007  02:00  fl« 

Hebron,  Conrecticut, 
bicentennial,  August  23d  to 
25th,  1908  :  an  account  of 
the  celebration  of  the  two 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  town  : 
1708-190B. 
F104.H45  HA  1910 

1 
Item:»39153013AA2100* 


3  ^153  Q13M4S1D  D 


GAYLORD  RS 


HEBRON,  CONNECTICUT. 

Bicentennial 

August  23d  to  25th,  1 908. 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  CELEBRATION  OF 
THE  TWO  HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY 
OF  THE  INCORPORATION  OF  THE  TOWN. 


1708 


908 


Hebron,  Connecticut, 

Published  by  the  Bicentennial  Committee 

1910. 


^7: 
H 


:t~ 


Copyright   1910 
by 
The  Hebron  Bicentennial 
Committee. 


CONTENTS 

Membership  of  Committees p.  11 

Finance  Committee's  Report 13 

Programme  of  Sunday  Services 16 

Dedication  of  New  School  Building 18 

Old  Folks'  Concert 19 

Governor's  Day 21 

Address  of  Welcome  by  John  L.  Way,  Chairman 26 

"        "  President  Luther 27 

"  Rev.  Samuel  Hart 33 

Paper  by  J.  Homer  Bliss — "Morey  and  Fulton" 36 

Address  of  Governor  Woodruff 38 

Historical  Address  of  F.  C.  Bissell — "First  Hundred  years"         .       .  40 

"             "         "   Dr.  C.  H.  Pendleton — "Second  Hundred  years"  54 

Poem  of  Miss  Susan  B.  Pendleton 66 

Address  of  Miss  Mary  Hall — "Marlborough" 70 

"       "  Roger  E.  Phelps, — "Andover"         73 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map  of  Hebron,  1744         frontispiece 

New  Town  Record  Building         opp.  p.     9 

Executive  Committee  and  Town  Officials          "        16 

Chairmen  of  Sub-Committees "       24 

Speakers  and  Officers  of  the  Day "       32 

First  Congregational  Church "40 

St.  Peter's  Episcopal  Church "       40 

Gilead  Congregational  Church "       48 

Hebron  Library  Building "       48 

Gilead  Hall "48 

North  Side  Green  Before  the  Fire  of  1882,  and  portrait  Judge 

Sylvester  Gilbert,  M.  C "56 

South  Side  Green  in  1840 "56 

Residence  late  Ex-Governor  Peters,  and  portrait  Ex-Governor 

John  S.  Peters "64 

South  View  from  Hebron  Green,  1830 "64 


TOWN  RECORD  BUILDING   1910 


PREFACE. 


"Hebron,  Conn.,  Oct.  15,  1909. 
Mr.  F.  C.  Bissell, 
Dear  Sir: — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Hebron  Bicentennial  Executive  Committee  it 
was  voted  to  publish  the  account  of  our  Bicentennial  Celebration  and  to 
request  Mr.  F.  Clarence  Bissell  to  arrange  and  prepare  the  material  for 

publication. 

Yours  truly, 

Cyrus  H.  Pendleton,  Secy." 

In  conformity  with  the  above  request  I  have  tried  to  gather 
up  the  history  of  the  Bicentennial  for  permanent  preservation. 
This  I  have  done  amid  the  duties  of  a  more  than  ordinarily  busy 
life  and  without  laying  claim  to  literary  ability,  but  with  the 
desire  to  do  my  part  towards  preserving  a  permanent  record  of 
the  observance  of  an  anniversary  which  will  never  come  again 
to  any  of  us,  and  that  those  who  follow  may  know  how  and  why 
we  celebrated  the  day.     If  it  answers  this  purpose,  I  am  satisfied. 

I  note  as  I  am  writing  to-day,  May,  1910,  the  new  Town 
Record  Building  just  completed.  This  is  a  direct  result  of  the 
historical  interest  aroused  at  the  Bicentennial,  being  built  in 
part  by  a  subscription  commenced  at  that  time  and  it  is  a  sub- 
stantial memorial  of  the  occasion. 


uc^^^^u^jLe. 


BI-CENTENNIAL. 


The  celebration  of  the  Bicentennial,  either  of  the  settlement 
or  incorporation  of  the  town,  had  been  talked  of  for  years  but 
the  first  decisive  step  toward  it  was  taken  when  a  clause  was  put 
in  the  warning  for  the  annual  town  meeting  of  October  7,  1907. 
This  read  as  follow^s:  "To  see  if  the  town  will  take  any  action  in 
regard  to  the  observance  of  the  200th  anniversary  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  town." 

The  result  was  that  the  following  vote  was  passed  at  the 
meeting:  "Voted  that  the  town  appropriate  Two  Hundred 
Dollars  for  the  celebration  of  the  200th  anniversary  of  the  town, 
and  that  the  Selectmen  and  Representatives  be  a  committee  for 
that  purpose."  The  general  committee  thus  chosen  were: 
Edwin  T.  Smith,  Frank  R.  Post,  William  W.  Jones,  Selectmen; 
and  Dr.  Cyrus  H.  Pendleton  and  Roswell  Chamberlain,  Repre- 
sentatives. 

This  general  committee  held  their  first  meeting  February 
22,  1908,  and  organized  with  Edwin  T.  Smith,  Chairman;  Dr. 
Cyrus  H.  Pendleton,  Secretary;  and  Frank  R.  Post,  Treasurer. 
They  appointed  the  following  sub-committees : 


10 


COMMITTEES. 


FINANCE  COMMITTEE 

Henry  A.  Spafard  John  L.  Way 

James  H.  Jagger  William  J.  Warner 

Lewis  W.  Phelps  William  L.  Ellis 

C.  Daniel  Way  Edward  W.  Bill 

Dr.  Charles  J.  Douglas 

INVITATION  COMMITTEE 

Daniel  W.  White  F.  Clarence  Bissell 

Mrs.  Charles  L.  Phelps  Mrs.  Charles  J.  Douglas 

Hart  E.  Buell  Mrs.  Charles  D.  Way 

John  L.  Way 

TRANSPORTATION  COMMITTEE 

John  N.  Hewitt  Wilbur  N.  Hills 

Henry  A.  Spafard  Charles  D.  Way 

Loren  M.  Lord  Frank  H.  Raymond 

John  E.  Ellis 

ENTERTAINMENT  COMMITTEE 

James  H.  Jagger  Mrs.  John  R.  Gilbert 

Alfred  H.  Post  Mrs.  Geo.  F.  Mitchell 

Mrs.  Marietta  Horton  Fred  A.  Rathbun 

Walter  S.  Hewitt  Mrs.  Alfred  H.  Post 

Robert  E.  Buell  Edmund  B.  Bassett 

Mrs.  Frank  White 

MUSIC  COMMITTEE 

Lewis  W.  Phelps  Mrs.  William  J.  Warner 

Wilbur  N.  Hills  Mrs.  Daniel  H.  Hodge 

Roger  F.  Porter  Mrs.  Arthur  R.  Gillett 

DECORATION  COMMITTEE 

Mrs.  Leon  G.  Rathbone  Mrs.  A.  D.  McCarty 

Mrs.  C.  Daniel  Way  Mrs.  Carey  L.  Perry 

SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 

Mrs.  Edwin  T.  Smith  Mrs.  Anne  C.  Gilbert 

Miss  Caroline  E.  Kellogg  Mrs.  Wm.  O.  Seyms 

J.  Harry  Fitzgerald 

LOAN  COMMITTEE 

William  J.  Warner  Mrs.  W.  J.  Warner 

Mrs.  William  S.  Ellis  Mrs.  H.  Asa  Bissell 

Daniel  W.  White  William  W.  Jones 

Mrs.  Abbie  H.  Smith  Miss  Annie  Hutchinson 

Mrs.  Julius  Hills 
11 


After  the  movement  was  thus  officially  opened  the  com- 
mittee and,  in  fact,  every  person  in  the  town,  with  hardly  an 
exception,  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  affair  and  helped  to 
make  it  the  success  of  the  centuries,  as  it  certainly  was  for 
Hebron. 

It  was  understood  that  the  appropriation  by  the  town  was 
only  a  nucleus  for  further  subscriptions  from  those  interested. 
The  Finance  Committee,  as  might  have  been  expected,  was 
early  in  the  field  and  its  success  was  such  that  enough  was  sub- 
scribed to  meet  the  entire  cost  of  the  celebration  and  the  appro- 
priation bv  the  town  was  left  untouched.  In  this  matter  the 
present  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  aided  substantially  by 
many  former  residents  and  friends  in  other  places. 


12 


The  following  is  the  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  to  the 
General  Committee: 

J.  H.  Jagger,  Treas.  Bicentennial  Finance  Committee,  Dr. 

To  amount  received  from  individual  subscriptions     .      .  $682.00 
To   amount  received   for   entertainments   from   Social 

Committee 30.25 

To  amount  received  for  goods  furnished, F.  E.  Patterson, 

caterer 7.55 

To  amount  for  left  over  goods  sold 9.30 


$729.10 


CONTRA 

By  amount  paid  Finance  Committee  Expenses    . 
By  amount  paid  Entertainment  Committee  Expenses    . 
By  amount  paid  Invitation  and  Printing  Committee  Ex- 
penses      

By  amount  paid  Transportation  Committee  Expenses    . 

By  amount  paid  Decoration  Committee  Expenses     . 

By  amount  paid  Musical  Committee  Expenses     . 

By  amount  paid  Social  Committee  Expenses 

By  Bal.  in  Windham  National  Bank  (to  printing  acct.) 


$24.74 

325.89 

52.15 

105.54 

63.88 

114.40 

36.55 

1    5.95 

$729.10 


13 


The  Invitation  Committee,  who  with  the  advice  of  the 
General  Committee  prepared  the  programme,  took  charge  of  the 
advertising  as  well  as  the  special  invitations  to  those  who  were  to 
take  part  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion.  They  also  furnished 
printed  programmes  for  the  week  giving  the  principal  features  of 
each  day  with  the  arrival  and  departure  of  trains,  for  the  use  of 
those  wishing  to  distribute  as  a  general  invitation. 

The  design  which  is  found  upon  our  title  page,  and  used  upon 
the  official  stationery  of  the  committees  and  upon  the  programmes, 
is  a  fac-simile  of  a  defacing  stamp  used  in  the  Hebron  post- 
office  many  years  ago.  The  design  consisted  of  the  name  of 
the  town  and  state  surmounted  by  a  crude  representation  of  a 
wooden  pump  with  the  date  1758  thereon.  This  had  reference 
to  the  story  of  "the  firing  of  the  pump"  by  our  loyal  ancestors 
in  honor  of  the  fall  of  Louisburg  in  that  year.  An  edition  of  the 
weekly  programme  was  also  issued  giving  the  baseball  schedules 
of  each  day  and  the  names  of  such  "Nines"  as  were  to  contest 
with  "The  Hebron  Wallopers"  for  the  local  championship. 

The  Entertainment  Committee  took  the  contract  for  pro- 
viding lodgings  for  such  visitors  as  wished  to  remain  in  town  for 
a  night  or  more  and  a  dinner  for  an  unknown  number  upon 
Governor's  Day.     They  did  it  well,  every  one  was  provided  for. 

The  Decoration  Committee  saw  that  the  public  buildings 
were  decorated  with  flags  and  bunting,  the  town  hall,  the 
churches,  the  school  house,  the  public  library,  the  Governor 
Peters'  place  and  the  Arnold  place,  the  residence  of  Miss  Caroline 
E.  Kellogg  where  the  evening  reception  was  held.  Other  build- 
ings were  decorated  at  private  expense,  notably  the  stores  of 
W.  S.  Hewitt,  F.  A.  Rathbun  and  J.  B.  Tennant  and  the  houses 
of  Daniel  W.  Post,  Fred  A.  Rathbun,  Everett  G.  Lord,  Daniel  W. 
White,  town  clerk,  John  N.  Hewitt,  Miss  Ellen  Buell,  H.  Asa 
Bissell,  Dr.  C.  H.  Pendleton,  A.  D.  McCarty,  Horace  F.  Porter, 
H.  Clinton  Porter,  Geo.  F.  Mitchell,  Henry  A.  Spafard,  Loren  M. 
Lord,  E.  J.  Willcox,  Roger  F.  Porter,  F.  C.  Bissell  and  Frank  H. 
Raymond. 

The  Music  Committee  arranged  for  the  band  and  the  vocal 
music  for  Governor's  Day  and  took  a  generous  hand  in  the  choir 

14 


music  at  the  union  services  in  the  Congregational  church  on 
Sunday. 

The  Social  Committee  planned  the  evening  entertainments 
by  the  young  people  and  furnished  very  creditable  and  pleasing 
programmes. 

The  Loan  Committee  arranged  a  successful  loan  exhibit  in 
the  library  building  and  in  doing  it  brought  to  light  many  valu- 
able and  interesting  relics  from  Hebron  homes  and  attics,  the 
existence  of  which  was  heretofore  unknown  to  the  public. 

As  the  time  approached,  the  Transportation  Committee 
found  that  their  hands  were  likely  to  be  full,  especially  on  Gov- 
ernor's Day,  but  their  duties  were  faithfully  performed  and  every 
one  that  needed  transportation  to  and  from  the  railroad  station 
was  provided  for. 

The  week  before  the  celebration  proper  the  town  began  to 
take  on  an  air  of  expectancy  and  subdued  festivity,  decorations 
began  to  appear  and  visitors  to  arrive.  On  Sunday  the  23d  a 
large  and  interested  congregation  attended  the  union  services  at 
the  First  Congregational  Church,  the  Holy  Communion  having 
been  celebrated  at  the  Episcopal  Church  at  an  early  hour.  The 
following  was  the  order  of  service,  the  music  being  under  the 
direction  of  Prof.  W.  O.  Turner  of  Willimantic  with  Mrs.  Wm.  O. 
Seyms,  organist  and  by  the  combined  choirs  of  the  different 
churches.     The  choir  was  made  up  as  follows: — 

Mrs.  Arthur  R.  Gillette  Mrs.  Geo.  F.  Mitchell 

Mrs.  Henry  Spafard  Mrs.  Robert  J.  Kyle 

Mrs.  Wm.  J.  Warner  Mrs.  Daniel  H.  Hodge 

Miss  Edna  L.  Smith  Miss  Susan  B.  Pendleton 

Mrs.  Chas.  J.  Douglas  Miss  Irma  B.  Lord 

Mrs.  C.  Daniel  Way  Miss  Helen  M.  Hodge 

Frank  R.  Post  William  O.  Seyms 

Arthur  R.  Gillette  Roger  F.  Porter 

Loren  M.  Lord  Wilbur  N.  Hills 

Leroy  L.  Spafard 


IS 


MORNING. 


ORGAN  VOLUNTARY Wm.  Adifl  Rupp 

Centennial  Celebration  Chimes 

DOXOLOGY 

INVOCATION       .      .   Rev.  John  H.  Fitzgerald  of  St.  Peter's  Church 
lord's  prayer 

HYMN  36 

RESPONSIVE  READING  .      .    Rev.  S.  A.  Aproham  of  Marlborough 

ANTHEM Edmund  Turner 

Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works  Lord,  God, 
Almighty.  Just  and  true  are  thy  ways.  Thou  King 
of  Saints.  Oh  taste  and  see  how  gracious  the  Lord 
is.  Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  him.  The 
lions  do  lack  and  suffer  hunger.  But  they  who 
seek  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good  thing. 

Oh  thank  the  Lord  of  all  lords  for  his  mercy 
endureth  forever. 
READING  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  .      .    Rev.  A.  J .  McLeod  of  Audover 

PRAYER R^'V-  Mr.  McLeod 

RESPONSE by   Choir 

Hear  me  when  I  call,  Oh  God  of  my  righteousness. 
Have  mercy  upon  me,  and  hear  my  prayer. 

HYMN  1312 
OFFERING 

SOLO by  Mrs.  R.J.Kyle 

SERMON.      .      .      .Rev.  J.  G.Davenport,  D.D.,Waterbury,  Conn. 

Text — Ecclesiastes  vii,  10 

Theme — "New  England,  Past  and  Present." 

HYMN  ANTHEM Lillian  T aitt  Sheldon 

"How  firm  a  foundation." 

HYMN  153 

BENEDICTION Rev.  Dr.  Davenport 

MILITARY  POSTLUDE W.  H.  Burt 

16 


^'^•^v.:;^^»^^^^iTTef' 


"-^^iH       r 


mmnm\ 

4eaecutivl> 


EDwin  T.  sniTn 

SELECmAh 
CMAIRnAH 


own  Officer^ 
19^8 


EVENING  SERVICE— 7.30. 


ORGAN  VOLUNTARY 

HYMNS 

PRAYER Rev.  Dr.  Davenport 

ANTHEM Male  Quartet 

SCRIPTURES Rev.  Mr.  Fitzgerald 

HYMN,  to  tune  "Hebron"  .  Composed  by  Mrs.  Kate  Trumbull  Way 

Two  hundred  years  have  come  and  gone, 

Since  in  this  dear  old  Hebron  town. 

A  little  band  of  holy  men, 

Did  pray  and  call  God's  blessing  down. 

Now  raise  your  voice  and  shout  and  sing 
Help  us  to  laud  and  glorify, 
These  men  of  old  who  built  this  town. 
And  left  it  fair  for  you  and  I. 

The  Pilgrims  come  from  near  and  far, 
They  come  with  hearts  so  full  of  love. 
The  feast  we  keep  with  them  to-day, 
Is  like  to  that  in  courts  above. 

Now  rise  my  soul  and  sing  and  sing, 
In  this  beloved  Hebron  town. 
And  call  on  God  who  rules  above, 
To  send  his  choicest  blessings  down. 

SERMON Rev.  Joel  S.  Ives,  Hartford,  Conn. 

ANTHEM 

"Sun  of  My  Soul" 

ANTHEM 

"Lest  We  Forget" 

CLOSING  HYMN 

BENEDICTION Rev.  Mr.  Ives 


17 


On  Monday,  August  24th,  at  2  P.  M.  the  Center  School 
building,  which  had  been  thoroughly  repaired  and  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  a  new  room  to  accommodate  the  grammar  and 
high  school  preparatory  departments  was  dedicated.  The 
interior  as  well  as  the  exterior  of  the  building  had  been  decorated 
with  flags  and  bunting  and  a  large  audience  gathered  to  partici- 
pate in  the  exercises  which  were  in  charge  of  the  district  commit- 
tee, Henry  A.  Spafard.  They  opened  with  an  organ  voluntary 
by  H.  K.  Viner,  principal  of  the  preparatory  school,  followed  by 
singing  of  the  doxology  and  by  prayer  offered  by  Rev.  J.  H. 
Fitzgerald,  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
Then  followed  a  recitation  "Success  in  Life"  by  Clair  L.  Robinson, 
a  song  "My  Mother's  Hymn"  by  Miss  Irma  Lord,  an  extract 
from  "Hiawatha"  by  Miss  Helen  Gilbert  and  a  humorous  selection 
entitled  "Mrs.  Silas  Tarbox"  from  "Tim.othy's  Quest"  by 
Genevieve  J.  Little.  President  Flavel  S.  Luther  of  Trinity 
College,  Hartford,  then  made  an  address  taking  for  his  subject 
"The  Modern  Public  School,  its  Influence  and  Advantages." 
He  emphasized  strongly  the  influence  of  school  environment 
upon  the  child  life  and  mind  and  congratulated  the  citizens  of 
Hebron  upon  their  step  forward  in  the  right  direction  along  that 
line.  At  the  close  of  Dr.  Luther's  address,  Mrs.  Minnie  Sumner 
Preston,  a  former  teacher  in  the  local  public  schools  but  now  a 
home  missionary  in  the  West,  made  some  interesting  remarks 
recalling  bygone  days  and  her  experiences  as  a  young  "school- 
marm"  here  in  Hebron.  She  closed  by  addressing  the  school 
directly  and  urging  them  to  diligence  in  pursuit  of  an  education 
and  to  ever  bear  in  mind  the  words  which  she  would  imprint 
upon  the  walls  of  their  new  building  "Push  forward!  onward! 
make  college  your  goal."  Dr.  C.  H.  Pendleton,  for  many  years 
a  member  of  the  school  visiting  committee,  gave  some  interesting 
reminiscences  of  early  school  life,  after  which  the  exercises 
closed  by  all  uniting  in  the  singing  of  "America." 

In  the  evening  an  Old  Folks'  Concert,  admirably  planned  and 
executed  engaged  the  attention  of  an  audience  that  filled  the 
town  hall  to  overflowing.  The  very  interesting  programme,  which 
was  rendered  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  Turner  was  as  follows : — 

18 


Y^  CONCERT. 


A  LYSTE  OF  YE  TUNES  TO  BE  SUNG  BY  YE  BIGGE  CHOIR 
AUGUST  YE  24,  1908 

Ye  Singing  will  begin  at  8  of  ye  clock,  if  so  be  yt  ye  Sifters  be 
readie  and  their  Hats  on  Straight. 

Ye  Sifters  muft  not  make  ye  Sheep's  eyes  at  ye  Modeft 
Brothers,  left  they  become  difconcerted  Thereby,  to  the  Detri- 
ment of  their  Singing. 

Unseemly  Behaviour  will  be  Severely  Punished  by  ye 
Ty thing  Manne,  who  hath  a  rod  in  Pickle  for  all  Evil  doers. 

Brother  Turner  will  beat  ye  tyme,  and  ye  Singers  are  Cau- 
tioned to  be  exceedingly  Mindful  thereof. 

Ye  Spinfter  (for  a  long  Tyme)  Kellogg  will  play  on  a  mufickle 
Instrument  and  ye  Bass  Viol  and  ye  Fiddle  will  play  alfo. 

Ye  carlefs  Boys,  olde  and  younge  are  warned  againft  throw- 
ing Peanut  Shucks  and  Spit  Balls  at  ye  Singers,  or  on  ye  floor, 
and  ye  Caretaker  will  complain  to  ye  Ty  thing  Manne  of  all  Such. 

PART  YE  FIRSTS 

1 .  AULD  LANG  SYNE— By  ye  Bigge  Choir. 

2 .  INVITATION— A  Godly  tune  by  ye  same. 

3 .  GRANDMA'S  AD  VICE— By  our  younge  Sifter  Helen  Lord. 

Who  is  advised  to  diligentlie  heed  ye  Same. 

4.  NEW  DURHAM.     BRIDGEWATER— Again  by  ye  Bigge 

Choir. 

5.  THE  QUAKER'S  COURTSHIP— By  Goodman  and  Mis- 

tress Roger  Porter  ye  same  who  belongeth  to  ye  Twins. 

6.  NEW    JERUSALEM    AND    GREENWICH— By    all    ye 

Menne  and  Womenne  Singers. 

7.  YE  OLDFASHIONED  BUCKET— By  4  Syngers  who  think 

themselves  Some  Punkins. 

8.  RUSSIA  AND  TURNER— By  ye  Fulle  Chorus. 

9.  COUSIN    JEDEDIAH— A    Worldlie    Tune— By    Spinfter 

Edna  Smith,  ye  Comelie  Blonde,  Mistrefs  Mary  Mitchell, 
She  yt  was  a  Post,  Brother  Frank  Post,  One  of  ye  Bigge 
Menne  of  ye  Town,  Goodman  W.  O.  Seyms,  ye  Proude 
Father  of  ye  Smalle  daughter. 
19 


10.     BATTLE  HYMN  OF  THE  REPUBLIC— By  Miftress  Kyle, 

wife  to  ye  Parson,  Sifter  Inez  Porter,  she  who  Married  a 

Gillette,  Goodman  Frank  R.  Post,  same  as  before,  Sifter 

Dorothy  Clark,  Mrs.  Dan  Hodge,  ye  Gileaditis. 

Ye  conGregation  will  Please  Hist  and  Shout  right  Lustilie  on 

the  Chorus. 

INTERMIFSION 

To  reft  the  Syngers,  Also  the  lysteners. 

A  Goode  Tyme  for  ye  Younge  Menne  to  Speak  to  ye 
Maidens  Whom  they  would  see  Home,  and  for  ye  Sifters  to  get 
fresh  Coals  in  their  Stoves. 

PART  YE  SECOND 

1 .  ANVIL  CHORUS— All  ye  Singers  in  One  Voice. 

2.  JOHNNY  GREEN— By  ye  Porter  Family  that  was,  and  he 

who  married  One. 

3.  DENMARK — By  3  Goode  Looking  Syngers  and  ye  Bigge 

Choir. 

4.  DIXIE  LAND— By  Brother  Wilbur  Hills,  a  Godly  Manne 

from  Gilead. 

5.  WHEN  GEORGE  THE  3D  WAS  KING— By  Manne  ye 

name  of  Mitchell  from  ye  citie. 

6.  SONS  OF  ZION— Once  more  by  ye  Choir. 

7.  VILIKINS  AND   HIS  DINAH— By   Sifter  Warner  who 

Warbleth  right  Merrilie,  She  lives  in  Gilead. 

8.  Ye  Lytle  Eddy  Smith  will  now  relate  how  he  went  to  Camp 

with  his  Papa  and  what  he  Saw  There. 

9.  STRIKE  THE  CYMBOL— Ye  Solow  by  Miftress  Henry 

Spaf ard ;  She  who  rideth  in  a  Chariot  and  so  putteth  on 

Airs. 
10.     CORONATION— By  Everybody. 

N.  B. — If  anyone  is  not  Pleased  with  ye  Conserte,  he  can  as 
he  re  tyre,  get  his  ticket  back — or  if  he  feare  that  he  has  received 
too  much  benefit  for  ye  money  payed,  he  can  make  a  further 
payment  to  ye  Keeper  of  ye  door. 


20 


GOVERNOR'S  DAY. 


Tuesday,  August  25,  1908  was  Governor's  Day,  the  climax 
of  the  celebration.  The  weather  was  perfect  and  the  people  of 
the  town  fairly  outdid  themselves  in  the  cordial  welcome  and 
generous  hospitality  accorded  to  their  visitors.  Fifteen  hundred 
persons  at  least  were  present,  largely  from  neighboring  towns 
but  many  from  other  parts  of  the  State  and  the  United  States, 
giving  a  flavor  of  Old  Home  Week  to  this  part  of  the  anniversary. 
By  railroad,  automobile,  teams  of  all  descriptions,  bicycles,  and 
by  foot  the  crowds  passed  into  the  village  and  by  the  time  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Governor  and  distinguished  guests,  who  came  by 
the  9:15  A.  M.  train  from  the  West,  the  Green  presented  a  very 
lively  appearance.  The  Governor  with  his  private  secretary  and 
other  guests  were  met  at  Turnerville  station  by  the  selectmen, 
the  chairman  of  the  day  and  other  citizens  in  automobiles,  who 
escorted  them  to  the  Green.  They  first  called  at  the  old  Governor 
Peters'  mansion  where  a  short  informal  reception  was  held  and 
the  rooms  visited  containing  the  old  furniture  arranged  as  in  the 
ex-governor's  day.  His  antique  office  claimed  special  attention 
where  many  of  his  books  were  displayed  and  the  guests  registered 
their  names  with  a  quill  pen  of  former  days.  The  church  nearby 
where  the  Governor  attended,  and  his  grave  in  the  adjoining 
cemetery  were  also  visited. 

The  party  then  proceeded  to  the  Green  where  a  large  tent 
had  been  erected  at  the  west  end,  in  front  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  where  the  public  exercises  were  to  take  place  and  a  large 
and  interested  audience  were  already  in  attendance.  After  the 
band  concert  the  assemblage  was  called  to  order  by  Edwin  T. 
Smith,  the  first  selectman  of  the  town,  who  introduced  the  chair- 
man, Mr.  John  L.  Way  of  Hebron  and  Hartford.  The  following 
is  a  fac  simile  of  the  programme  which  was  carried  out  in  detail. 

21 


HEBRON  BI-CENTENNIAL 


1708 


1908 


GOVERNOR'S  DAY 

Tuesday,  August  Twenty-fifth 
1908 


23 


PROGRAMME. 


9:45  A.  M. 

Concert  on  the  Green  by  Hatch's  First  Regiment  Band,  of 
Hartford. 
10:30  A.  M. 

Band  Selection 

INVOCATION,  Rev.  R.  J.  Kyle,  Pastor  of  First  Congrega- 
tional Church 

HYMN — TO  TUNE  "Hebron" 

1.  Fair  Hebron  set  among  God's  hills. 

Oh!  holy  land,  thy  name  we  love; 
The  thought  of  thee  our  bosom  fills 
With  gratitude  to  God  above. 

2.  Thou  Lord,  didst  lead  to  this  dear  place. 

Our  sires  in  happy  days  long  gone ; 
With  thankful  heart  and  voice  we'd  raise 
To  thee  a  glad  triumphant  song. 

3.  They  deemed  no  sacrifice  too  great 

To  make  for  truth  and  Liberty ; 
Freedom  and  peace,  a  rich  estate: 
We  bless  them  for  this  legacy. 

4.  Our  fathers'  guide  Thou  wert.  Oh  God, 

Be  ours  we  pray  in  days  to  come, 
We'd  follow  in  the  paths  they  trod. 

The  paths  that  lead  to  Thee  and  home. 

— Ida  a.  Porter  Douglas. 
Band  Selection 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME,  by  the  chairman,  John  L. 
Way,  Esq. 

ADDRESS,  BY  Flavel  S.  Luther,  LL.D.,  President  of 
Trinity  College. 

Band  Selection. 

HISTORICAL  ADDRESS,  "The  place  of  Hebron  in  the 
Colony,"  by  Rev.  Samuel  Hart,  D.D.,  President  of  the 
Connecticut  Historical  Society. 

HYMN,  "Auld  Lang  Syne." 
24 


LUNCH  HOUR 

announced  by  the  "Firing  of  the  Pump." 

1:30  P.  M. 

BAND— "Hail  to  the  Chief." 

ADDRESS,   BY  His   Excellency,  Rollin   S.  Woodruff, 
Governor  of  Connecticut. 

HYMN,  TO  TUNE  "St.  Ann's." 
O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 

THE  FIRST  HUNDRED  YEARS, by  F.Clarence  Bissell, 
Esq. 

Band  Selection. 

THE  SECOND  HUNDRED  YEARS,  by  Cyrus  H.  Pendle- 
ton, M.  D. 

Band  Selection. 

POEM — "Hebron,"  by  Miss  Susan  B.  Pendleton. 

Band  Selection. 

TIDINGS  FROM  OUR  CHILDREN. 

MARLBOROUGH,   "Our  Elder,"   1803,  by  Miss    Mary 
Hall. 

Band  Selection. 

ANDOVER,    "OUR   YOUNGER,"    1848,    by    Roger    E. 
Phelps,  Esq. 

Band  Selection. 

FIVE  MINUTE  SPEECHES. 

OUR  SONS  ABROAD,  by  Representatives  of  Our  Old 
Families. 

HYMN,  "America." 
My  country!  'tis  of  thee. 

BENEDICTION,   Rev.  John  H.   Fitzgerald,   Rector  of 
St.  Peter's  Church. 

EVENING— 8:00  to  10:00. 

Informal  reception  at  the  house  of  Miss  Caroline  E.  Kellogg, 

the  old  "Arnold  Homestead." 
Orchestral  and  Vocal  Music. 

A  Grand  Handshaking. 

25 


After  the  invocation  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kyle,  the  singing  of  the 
hymn  composed  by  Mrs.  Douglas,  and  a  stirring  band  selection, 
Mr.  Way  made  his  address  of  welcome,  closing  with  an  intro- 
duction of  President  Luther,  as  follows: — 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME 
By  JOHN  L.  WAY,  President  of  the  Day. 

We  are  gathered  here  to  celebrate  in  the  way  dear  to  New  England 
folk,  an  event  not  merely  of  the  years  but  of  centuries — the  Two  Hun- 
dreth  Anniversary  of  the  organization  of  our  body  politic. 

In  meeting  assembled,  our  ancestors  determined  to  found  in  these 
hills  homes  for  themselves  and  for  those  who  should  come  after  them. 
Here  they  worshipped  God,  perhaps  with  more  of  fear  than  love,  and 
hereabouts  they  labored  that  we  might  enjoy  the  blessings  and  the  homes 
which  we  now  so  gratefully  acknowledge. 

Loyal  in  the  days  of  the  colonies,  patriots  during  the  Revolution, 
firm  supporters  and  defenders  of  the  Union,  and  at  all  times  law-abiding, 
self-respecting  and  respect-impelling  citizens,  the  people  of  Hebron  during 
all  the  two  hundred  years  which  we  commemorate  to-day  have  done  all 
within  their  power  and  with  the  full  measure  of  their  strength  for  right 
living,  free  and  stable  government  by  the  people,  and  purity  in  public 
and  private  life. 

Hebron,  our  Hebron,  was  not  intended,  in  the  sense  of  the  Hebron 
of  the  Land  of  Canaan,  as  a  place  of  refuge,  nor  has  it  like  the  older 
Hebron  ever  been  the  home  of  prophets  or  the  abiding  place  of  kings. 
As  little  adapted  for  the  establishment  of  a  large  metropolis  as  it  was  for 
the  seats  of  the  mighty,  the  founders  discovered  in  the  inheritance  which 
they  transmitted  to  us  that  prospect  of  calm  and  peaceful  country  life 
which  has  ever  been  the  charm  of  Hebron  and  which  draws  us  back  again 
and  again,  however  far  we  may  wander. 

In  youth,  allured  by  the  prospect  of  wealth  and  power  or  stirred  by 
ambition,  we  may  go  out  into  the  busy  world;  but  even  then  there  is 
within  us  that  love  and  affection  for  the  old  place  in  which  we  were  raised, 
the  old  shrines  endeared  by  the  labors  and  touch  of  those  who  have  gone, 
that  sooner  or  later  we  come  back,  as  many  have  come  to-day. 
"This  fond  attachment  to  the  well-known  place. 
Whence  first  we  started  into  life's  long  race. 
Maintains  its  hold  with  svich  unfailing  sway 
We  feel  it  e'en  in  age  and  at  our  latest  day." 

As  we  listen  to  the  story  of  Hebron  as  it  will  be  told  in  prose  and  song 
there  will  pass  before  our  minds  pictures  of  future  generations  happy  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  places,  privileges  and  pleasures  made  possible  through 
the  acts  and  labors  of  those  whose  most  important  political  act  furnished 
the  inspiration  for  this  celebration. 

To  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and 
the  other  distinguished  gentlemen  who  come  from  beyond  our  borders  to 
join  with  us  in  making  this  occasion  a  memorable  one,  and  to  all  our 
guests,  we  give  the  heartiest  of  welcomes,  and  we  beg  all  who  are  present 
to  be  not  only  in  Hebron,  but  of  Hebron  and  for  Hebron,  for  all  that  we 
have  and  all  that  we  can  give  are  at  your  service. 

26 


INTRODUCTION  OF 
FLAVEL  S.  LUTHER,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Trinity  College. 


Several  years  ago  there  was  born  in  a  place  in  Windham 
County,  very  similar  to  Hebron,  a  boy  who  was  destined  to 
become  an  educator,  theologian  and  statesman.  President 
Flavel  S.  Luther  of  Trinity  College,  and  Republican  Senator  from 
the  First  District,  is  fulfilling  his  destiny  in  a  marked  degree. 
He  really  needs  no  introduction  by  reason  of  his  attainments 
and  the  distinguished  position  which  he  occupies  in  civic  and 
religious  affairs.  The  honor  of  his  coming  out  here  among  the 
hills  to  address  us  is  a  very  great  one,  and  we  shall  all  be  interested 
I  know  in  his  remarks. 

I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  President  Luther  of 
Trinity  College. 

ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  LUTHER. 

I  do  not  know  to  what  extent  the  Connecticut  towns  that  are  at  this 
period  celebrating  their  bicentennials  commemorated  in  1808  or  there- 
abouts the  completion  of  their  first  century.  Two  hundred  years  ago  we 
were  founding  towns.  One  hundred  years  ago  people  were  wondering 
what  the  towns  and  the  states  and  the  country  would  turn  out  to  be. 
The  Revolutionary  War  was  nearer  to  our  grandparents  and  great 
grandparents  of  one  hundred  years  ago  than  the  Civil  War  is  to  us.  The 
Revolutionary  soldiers  were  in  evidence  everywhere.  The  death  of 
Washington  was  a  recent  grief.  The  hostility  between  the  Tories  and 
Revolutionists  was  still  bitter.  The  material  civilization  was  essentially 
that  of  Colonial  and  earlier  times.  No  one  of  the  characteristic  devices, 
outgrowths  of  scientific  investigation  and  inventive  genius — no  one  of 
these  things,  I  say,  was  more  than  a  dream  of  the  future.  The  ordinary 
conveniences  and  facilities  of  our  life  to-day  were  not  nearly  as  definite 
in  the  minds  of  the  most  advanced  thinkers  as  the  flying  machine  now  is 
to  our  school  children. 

Yet  I  dare  say  that  one  hundred  years  ago,  if  the  men  of  Hebron 
gathered  together  in  celebration  of  the  completion  of  one  full  century  of 
organized  communal  life,  it  seemed  to  them  that  they  were  in  the  midsi- 
of  an  era  unprecedented,  marvelous,  separated  from  the  past  by  mighty 
achievements  This  is  the  way  of  life.  This  is  the  story  of  progress,  and 
when  in  2008  men,  women  and  children  gather  here  again,  remembering 
the  three  hundred  years  since  the  town  was  born,  they  also  doubtless  will 
wonder  what  we  were  thinking  of  in  1908  and  how  we  existed  amid  the 
crude  suggestions  of  what  was  to  become  a  real  civilization.      It  is  pleasant 

27 


to  wonder  how  the  guests  will  reach  Hebron  one  hundred  years  from  now 
when  the  celebration  takes  place;  whether  they  will  alight  from  flying 
ships  (that  is  an  inevitable  suggestion) ;  whether  they  will  need  to  come  at 
all ;  whether  by  that  time  one  cannot  turn  his  attention  upon  any  part 
of  the  world  or  of  the  solar  system  through  some  means  of  distant  vision 
far  surpassing  anything  that  scientists  have  dreamed  of  yet;  whether  the 
orator  may  not  speak  to  you  from  a  thousand  miles  away,  his  bodily 
presence  distinct  before  your  eyes,  his  voice  sounding  in  your  ears  with 
all  that  touch  of  personality  which  now  comes  from  actual  propinquity. 
But  I  suppose  we  are  not  here  to  indulge  in  guesses  as  to  the  future, 
and  I  am  not  here  to  discourse  upon  the  history  of  Hebron.  One  more 
learned  than  I  am  is  to  take  up  this  latter  task,  and  if  I  thought  I  knew 
anything  of  interest  about  the  history  of  your  town  I  should  not  dare  to 
mention  it  in  this  presence;  for  the  historian  who  is  to  speak  to  you  was 
at  one  time  my  own  professor,  and  the  misfortunes  which  attended  my 
attempts  to  recite  to  him  something  of  the  history  of  Rome  have  taught 
me  that  it  is  not  well  to  venture  into  that  region  of  thought  when  Doctor 
Hart  is  within  sound  of  my  voice.  Most  of  the  historical  information 
with  which  I  favored  him  forty  years  ago  he  pronounced  to  be  incorrect. 
I  am  not  going  to  take  another  chance  of  that  sort  now  that  we  are  both 
older. 

There  is  a  certain  connection  between  Trinity  College  and  Hebron, 
however,  which  makes  my  presence  here  not  inappropriate;  for  when, 
eighty-five  years  ago,  certain  benevolent  and  far-sighted  men  petitioned 
the  Legislature  of  our  state  for  permission  to  establish  within  its  borders 
a  second  institution  of  the  higher  learning,  consecrated  for  all  time  to  the 
advancement  of  literature,  art,  and  science,  there  were  among  them  two 
men  of  Hebron,  John  T.  Peters  and  John  S.  Peters.  Both  of  them  were, 
I  say,  among  those  who  established  Trinity  College.  Both  of  them  were 
trustees  from  1823  until  they  died,  John  T.  in  1834.  John  S.  Peters, 
governor  of  the  state  from  1831  to  1835,  was  ovir  trustee  for  thirty-five 
years  until  in  1858  he  died.  And  his  name,  a  Hebron  name,  is  carried 
still  upon  our  records  and  will  be  remembered,  so  long  as  there  is  a  Trinity 
College,  as  that  of  a  benefactor  of  that  institution.  He  gave  us  money 
for  our  library,  and  every  year  we  spend  about  one  hundred  dollars  in 
the  acquisition  of  new  books,  the  income  from  the  fund  which  he  gave; 
a  small  endowment  as  we  count  figures  now,  and  yet  one  which  was  large 
at  the  time  when  the  bequest  was  made.  I  suppose  that  nearly  four 
thousand  of  the  volumes  in  our  library  have  been  purchased  with  the 
income  from  this  fund,  and  we  still  have  the  two  thousand  dollars  which 
he  gave.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  some  of  you  to  know  that  for  some  time 
now  we  have  been  expending  this  part  of  our  library  income  in  the  pur- 
chase of  books  on  Philosophy  and  Psychology.  So,  I  say.  Trinity  College 
has  reason  to  remember  with  gratitude  your  former  fellow-citizen,  a  man 
whom  some  of  those  present,  perhaps,  knew  personally  and  recollect  with 
satisfaction  and  pride. 

I,  who  am  myself  a  native  of  a  small  Connecticut  town,  take  pride  in 
all  the  small  Connecticut  towns,  and  in  particular  in  that  characteristic  of 
the  citizens  of  these  communities  which  led  them  to  care  for  the  high 
things  of  life;  which  led  them  to  an  interest  in  schools  and  colleges;  which 
made  them  interested  in  religion  and  in  churches.  There  is,  of  course,  an 
unlovely  side  to  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  early  New  England.  We  do  not 
to-day  understand  why  people  should  quarrel  so  bitterly  about  questions 
as  to  whose  answers  no  man  can  hope  to  sati-sfy  himself.  We  regret  that 
toleration  and  brotherly  love  and  neighborly  kindness  were  so  lacking 
between  those  who  thought  differently  about  the  relations  of  man  to  God. 

28 


But  this  we  must  not  forget,  that  our  ancestors  quarreled  because  they 
were  utterly  convinced  that  religious  questions  were  the  greatest  of  all 
questions,  that  to  worship  God  properly  was  the  highest  of  all  human 
duties,  the  greatest  of  all  human  privileges.  They  cared  about  great 
things;  and  if  they  also  quarreled  abotit  them,  if  they  were  foolish 
about  them,  we  need  not  in  deploring  these  unseemly  contests  forget 
the  fundamental  dignity  of  the  attitude  of  the  men  of  old  toward  the 
most  important  of  all  human  interests. 

These  towns  which,  in  the  later  development  of  our  state,  have  come 
to  be  the  little  towns,  outgrown  by  communities  more  favorably  situated, 
had  in  them  the  dominating  spirit  of  New  England.  They  made  the 
history.  They  gave  their  tone  to  the  country  which  survived  the  throes 
of  the  greatest  civil  war  of  all  history.  It  was  the  spirit  of  the  New 
England  country  town  which  made  it  possible  to  conquer  and  settle  and 
enrich  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  still  greater  West.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  the  New  England  town  which  has  tied  our  land  together  with  the  bands 
which  no  political  contests  can  ever  break,  and  which  to-day  expresses 
itself  in  much  of  the  best  and  noblest  of  our  national  life. 

It  is  well  then  that  when  the  significant  dates  roll  around,  it  is  well 
now  that  we  can  say  "it  is  two  hundred  years  since  Hebron  began  to  be  a 
town,"  to  commemorate  the  past,  to  take  stock  of  the  present,  and  highly 
to  resolve  concerning  the  future.  Obviously  enough  the  country  town 
in  Connecticut  counts  for  less  in  the  growth  and  progress  of  civilization 
than  it  did  in  the  past  which  is  not  yet  remote.  More  and  more  men  are 
gathering  into  the  cities  to  do  their  work  and  to  carry  on  the  enterprises  of 
to-day.  That,  I  take  it,  is  an  inevitable  consequence  of  progress  in  human 
development.  The  spirit  of  the  times  is  such  that  men  must  work  in 
large  masses  rather  than  in  small  groups  if  they  would  accomplish  most. 
In  the  arts  of  peace  as  in  the  art  of  war  armies  must  be  greater  than  ever 
before  if  victory  is  to  come.  And,  for  one,  I  look  to  see  this  tendency 
become  even  stronger  in  the  years  upon  which  we  are  entering.  The 
instinct  of  co-operation,  the  instinct  whereby  men  gather  together  in 
larger  and  larger  communities  for  the  carrying  on  of  purposes  which  are 
ever  growing  in  magnitude,  is  an  elemental  characteristic  of  mankind. 
And  I  note  with  interest  that  in  the  early  apostolic  dream  of  the  Heaven 
that  awaits  God's  faithful  children  it  is  a  city,  the  New  Jerusalem,  which 
presents  the  ideal  of  the  future  life. 

Yet  so  wonderful  are  the  scientific  possibilities  of  the  present  and  of 
the  immediate  future  that  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  the  country  and  the 
city  shall  more  and  more  exist  together  without  sacrificing  those  advan- 
tages which  come  from  close  association  of  men  in  great  masses  and 
without  losing  those  other  advantages  which  belong  to  the  individual  life 
possible  only  where  there  is  plenty  of  room.  It  is  a  simple  and  a  very 
trite  observation  that  the  improvements  in  means  of  transportation  are 
making  it  possible  for  men  to  live  their  lives  in  several  different  places,  not 
quite  at  the  same  time,  indeed,  but  in  such  a  fashion  that  both  city  and 
country  shall  be  at  the  command  of  everybody.  The  time  is  close  upon 
us  when  the  farmer  can  live  in  the  city  if  he  so  elect  and  go  to  his  work  in 
the  morning  and  go  back  at  night.  The  time  is  already  here  when  the 
man  whose  work  is  in  the  metropolis  may  live  his  life  in  the  quiet  and 
restfulness  of  the  country  town.  Not  quite  yet  have  we  reached  the  point 
where  this  method  can  be  enjoyed  in  perfection,  yet  we  see  the  beginning 
of  it  all  about  us.  I  fully  believe  that  what  our  philosophers  sometimes 
call  the  "problem  of  the  country  town"  is  about  to  be  solved  by  whatever 
is  presently  to  suceed  the  trolley  car. 

That  to-day  the  country  towns  do  not  count  for  as  much  as  they  did 

29 


a  short  time  ago,  except,  indeed,  when  the  Legislature  is  in  session,  is 
obvious.  There  are  evidences  of  a  loss  of  prestige  on  every  hand.  I 
never  was  in  your  town  before  yesterday,  and  perhaps  what  I  have  noticed 
in  other  country  towns  is  not  true  here ;  but  there  are  places  in  Connecticut 
as  beautiful  as  Hebron  and  with  a  history  as  dignified  and  interesting, 
in  which  it  is  evident  that  the  people  care  less  than  their  fathers  of  fifty 
years  ago  about  those  things  which  are  most  important  in  civilization. 
There  are  towns  in  which  the  schools  are  less  efficient  that  those  of  half  a 
century  ago.  There  are  country  towns  from  which  the  old  efficient 
yeomanry  have  nearly  disappeared  and  the  fine  old  places  have  passed 
into  the  hands  of  those  who  must  yet  learn  what  it  is  to  be  an  American 
citizen.  The  basis  of  material  prosperity  is  less  stable  on  the  New  England 
farm  than  it  was  prior  to  the  Civil  War.  We  have  come  to  think, 
incorrectly,  I  fancy,  that  the  hard,  rocky  soil  and  the  New  England  hills 
and  valleys  are  not  sufficiently  fertile  to  invite  our  best  to  seek  their 
living  there.      I  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  is  a  mistake. 

A  year  ago  at  a  meeting  of  the  Granges  held  in  Hartford,  it  was  my 
privilege  to  welcome  the  farmer  into  the  ranks  of  the  so-called  learned 
professions.  For  thousands  of  years  agriculture,  the  oldest  and  most 
dignified  and  most  necessary  of  all  the  occupations  of  man,  has  lingered  in 
the  rear  of  the  march  toward  better  things.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the 
machine  has  taken  the  place  of  the  muscles  of  man  and  animals  to  a  very 
large  extent  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  in  the  planting  and  caring 
for  and  harvesting  of  crops.  And  yet,  although  things  are  done  in  a 
different  way  and  more  easily,  it  is  true,  is  it  not,  that  substantially  the 
same  things  are  done  as  were  done  when  your  ancestors  incorporated  this 
community. 

Now  within  a  few  years  people  have  awakened  to  this  fact,  that  we 
know  almost  nothing  of  the  nature  and  productivity  of  the  soil  which  God 
has  given  us,  that  we  have  been  blind  to  the  prodigal  bounty  of  nature. 
We  are  beginning  to  learn  that  the  farm  is  a  scientific  laboratory  and  that 
the  chemist  standing  at  his  desk  before  his  shelves  of  samples  and  reagents 
has  the  key  which  is  to  unlock  the  material  treasure-hou.se  of  the  world. 
It  is  not  so  long  since  the  phrase  "scientific  farming"  escaped  from  the 
contempt  of  men  who  raise  and  harvest  our  crops,  but  I  think  it  has 
escaped  and  that  from  this  time  on  there  is  to  be  a  wonderful  increase  in 
the  productivity  of  our  soil,  in  the  interest  which  will  attach  to  the 
farmer's  life,  and  in  the  material  profits  which  will  flow  into  the  coffers  of 
the  man  who  owns  the  land.  This  influence,  combined  with  the  easy 
means  of  going  from  place  to  place,  may,  I  think,  be  relied  tipon  for  the 
rehabilitation  of  the  New  England  country  town.  It  is  a  fact  that  men 
will  not  content  themselves  to  live  in  a  place  in  which  the  conveniences  of 
rational  pleasure  and  the  means  for  culture  and  self -improvement  are  less 
than  those  in  other  localities.  To  do  so  is  simply  to  be  a  victim  of  that 
kind  of  contentment  which  is  merely  sweetened  despair. 

The  beauty  of  the  old  town  such  as  your  ancestors  and  mine  were 
familiar  with  grew  largely  out  of  the  fact  that  there  was  not  so  much 
difference  between  town  and  city,  and  the  difference  that  did  exist  was 
not  always  to  the  advantage  of  the  larger  group.  When  schools  were  as 
good  in  one  place  as  in  another,  when  the  country  church  was  as  active  as 
the  city  parish,  when  houses  in  country  and  in  city  were  heated  alike  by 
the  fire  place  or  the  stove,  when  the  candle  or  the  oil  lamp  stood  upon  the 
library  table  in  both  city  and  country,  when  a  man  must  walk  from  place 
to  place  or  drive  his  own  horse,  when  the  reader  must  own  his  own  books 
wherever  he  lived,  when  music  was  equally  bad  all  over  the  country,  and 
to  go  to  the  theater  was  a  sin  wherever  one  lived,  it  made  but  little  differ- 

30 


ence  to  one's  life  whether  it  was  spent  amid  thousands  or  amid  scores  of 
one's  fellow-beings.  Now  the  pleasant  things  which  I  have  hinted  at  in 
naming  their  opposites  can  be  commanded  only  where  there  are  many 
people  to  work  together  for  the  attainment  of  a  common  end,  and  it  is 
this  thing  which  is  draining  the  life  blood  of  the  country  town.  It  is  the 
readjustment  of  these  things,  the  discovery  that  the  products  of  the 
associated  enterprise  of  the  city  can  be  easily  distributed  over  wide  ranges 
of  less  thickly  settled  country,  that  is  going  to  bring  back,  that  has  already 
begun  to  bring  back,  the  glory  of  the  country  town. 

Meanwhile  it  is  not  necessary  to  await  in  absolute  quiescence  the 
progress  of  modern  science,  however  promising  that  progress  be,  before 
beginning  to  reap  some  of  the  rewards  of  what  is  already  at  hand.  That 
sense  of  pride  which  has  dictated  your  commemoration  here  to-day,  that 
pride  which  exists  in  every  town  like  this  in  all  our  New  England  states, 
stimulates  a  resolve  that  the  present  and  the  future  of  towns  like  Hebron 
is  to  be  worthy  of  every  possibility.  I  feel  sure  that  out  of  your  medita- 
tions over  the  glories  of  what  has  been  will  come  a  determination  that 
schools,  for  example,  shall  be  such  as  will  give  the  Hebron  boy  and  girl 
a  chance  to  develop  every  capacity  with  which  they  have  been  endowed. 
I  know  that  this  is  so  because  onl}'^  yesterday  you  dedicated  a  new  school 
building  and  let  me  join  you  in  your  satisfaction. 

I  believe  that  as  we  look  back  and  realize  the  folly  of  the  old  ecclesias- 
tical quarrels  which  were  certainly  not  less  acute  in  Hebron  than  in  other 
towns  of  which  we  know,  you  will  come  to  understand  that  men  who 
do  not  think  alike  in  all  things  may  yet  worship  together  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  may  worship  together  in  organic  union.  I  do  not  know  how  many 
churches  there  are  in  Hebron,  but  I  came  to  you  yesterday  from  a  little 
country  town,  near  whose  center  stand  four  houses  of  worship.  Every 
Sunday  morning  four  church  bells  ring,  and  a  community  that  worship 
one  God,  that  are  agreed  about  all  important  religious  matters,  who  must 
co-operate  if  any  of  them  are  to  live  a  life  worth  living — must  co-operate 
in  almost  all  the  relations  of  human  life — separate  into  four  petty  little 
groups,  and  in  these  four  buildings  hear  four  excellent  clergymen  discourse 
about  subjects  which  are  apt  to  be  very  much  alike.  It  seems  a  pity, 
does  it  not,  that  these  four  congregations  should  not  somehow  and  on 
some  basis  get  together.  It  seems  a  pity  to  see  the  people  of  this  country 
town  of  which  I  speak  drawing  apart  from  each  other  just  at  the  time  when 
they  should  be  nearest  together. 

Now,  as  I  have  said,  I  do  not  know  just  what  the  differences  are  in 
this,  your  town  of  Hebron,  but  that  name  of  yours,  "Hebron,"  which  is  a 
good  Bible  name,  means  "a  league."  It  stands  for  intimate  association, 
for  the  helping  of  each  by  all,  and  the  close  organization  of  men  together 
whereby  all  great  things  are  accomplished.  Let  me  commend  to  you  the 
name  of  your  town  as  a  motto,  "A  League."  Stand  together  in  the 
things  as  to  which  you  agree,  which  are  most  things,  and  forget  as  far  as 
possible  that  you  disagree  about  other  matters.  It  is  not  necessarv  that 
men  should  think  alike  in  order  to  work  together.  Indeed  if  all  men 
thought  alike  not  only  Hebron  but  the  world  would  be  a  desolate  place 
in  which  to  live.  If  all  men  thought  alike  there  would  be  no  improve- 
ments, no  growth.  If  men  did  not  urge  their  opinions  upon  each  other,  if 
they  did  not  think  independently  we  should  advance  not  at  all.  Had  men 
always  agreed  in  the  past  we  should  still  be  living  in  holes  in  the  cliffs  and 
chasing  palaeozoic  animals  over  the  palaeogaean  plains,  and  even  then  I 
suppose,  we  should  not  catch  many  of  them  without  co-operation  from 
various  directions.  Yes,  my  friends,  it  is  essential  both  that  we  differ 
and  that  we  agree.    Out  of  the  differences  of  men  comes  the  possibility  of 

31 


progress.  Out  of  the  agreement  of  men  comes  the  achievement  of  that 
progress.  There  is  everything  in  the  spirit  of  the  disagreement  and  in  the 
spirit  of  the  co-operation.  Your  word  "Hebron"  your  word  "League" 
stands  for  the  best  thing  in  human  Hfe,  for  the  association  of  men  together 
in  a  common  purpose,  each  determined  to  contribute  of  his  best,  each 
determined  to  contribute  that  which  makes  him  different  from  all  other 
men,  each  willing  to  subordinate  himself  to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole. 

Two  Hebron  men  at  least,  John  S.  Peters  and  Daniel  Burrows,  were 
conspicuous  in  the  Connecticut  constitutional  convention  of  ninety  years 
ago  in  their  exhibition  of  a  spirit  of  liberal  toleration,  that  is  to  say  in  their 
exhibition  of  a  spirit  which  recognizes  the  good  in  others,  which  recognizes 
the  individuality  of  others,  and  will  join  with  others  in  a  common  brother- 
hood. Surely  there  is  this  spirit  still  in  Hebron.  In  those  greatest  things 
in  communal  life,  in  your  churches  and  your  schools,  seek  to  get  together. 
In  your  search  for  the  material  blessings  of  our  civilization  avail  yourselves 
of  the  very  best.  Take  the  good  that  is  offered  to  you  at  the  hands  of  the 
wisest  and  greatest  of  your  fellow -men,  and  those  who  follow  you  will  look 
back  with  thankfulness  to  what  you  did,  even  as  we  to-day  thrill  with 
gratitude  toward  those  who  preceded  us  and  lived  lives  long  ago  among 
these  hills. 

The  country  town  of  New  England  has  not  yet  done  its  work.  The 
glory  of  rural  Connecticut  is  still  with  us  and  is  to  be  enhanced  and  made 
more  beautiful  in  the  years  that  are  coming,  as  in  every  community,  large 
and  small,  the  dominating  word  is  more  and  more  perfectly  recognized  to 
be  "Hebron,"  "League." 

Following  another  band  selection  President  Way  introduced 
Dr.  Hart  in  the  following  words: — 


32 


F.S.LUTn&R^  y  l^OLLin  S.WOODRUrr   C  DrSAMU&inART 

Pr-est.  /  GrOVer^n.OT"  \  Dean 

TQ1^^ITY  C0LLE6E/     OP  Conn&CTicvT       1\BERKELEY  DIViniTY5(H00L> 


Speakers  ^rx^.  officers 

"^  '    OP  THE  D/^<Y 


INTRODUCTION  OF 
THE  REV.  SAMUEL  HART,  D.D., 

Secretary  of  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  P.  E.  Church  in  the 

U.  S.,  Dean  of  Berkeley  Divinity  School,  and  President 

of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


This  celebration  of  our  town  and  its  beginning  and  history 
will  naturally  tend  to  increase  our  interest  in  the  history  of  the 
Colony  of  which  it  was  formerly  a  part.  It  is  especially  fitting 
that  this  history  should  be  given  by  one  who  by  his  attainments 
is  best  qualified  for  the  task — a  man  of  letters  and  a  ripe  scholar 
in  many  lines,  but  particularly  in  the  history  of  our  own  state,  and 
the  Head  of  the  Organization  whose  valued  and  important  ser- 
vices are  preserving  the  records  of  the  Colony  and  of  our  state. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Reverend  Doctor 
Samuel  Hart,  Dean  of  the  Berkeley  Divinity  School  and  President 
of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 

ADDRESS  OF  DR.  HART. 

The  year  170S  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  Colony  of  Connecti- 
cut. In  i  t  four  towns  were  added  to  the  goodly  number  of  those  which  in 
more  than  seventy  years  had  been  incorporated  within  the  well-established 
charter  limits.  They  were  Newtown,  on  the  northwestern  frontier, 
where  an  outpost  settlement  had  been  made  two  years  earlier;  Ridgefield, 
on  the  west  boundary  not  far  back  from  the  Sound,  in  a  tract  of  land 
purchased  from  Indian  proprietors;  Killingly,  near  the  Massachusetts  line 
and  not  far  from  the  northeast  corner  of  the  colony;  and  this  town,  much 
nearer  the  centre  than  any  of  the  others,  j^et  at  some  distance  from  the 
great  river,  and  having  from  the  first  an  idiosyncrasy  of  position,  as  it 
was  destined  to  have  a  history  peculiarly  its  own. 

Hebron  also,  like  one  of  the  other  towns  which  keeps  its  bicentennial 
this  year,  gained  its  land  directly  from  the  Indians;  yet  not  by  conquest, 
nor  by  purchase,  but  by  gift  and  that  a  legacy.  The  story  will  presently 
be  told  you,  how  Joshua  Uncas,  son  of  the  great  chieftain,  otherwise 
called  Attawanhood,  who  asked  that  he  might  be  buried  at  Saybrook 
after  the  manner  of  the  English,  left  to  Thomas  Buckingham  (son  of  the 
minister),  Thomas  Shipman  and  others,  known  as  the  Saybrook  legatees, 
a  large  tract  of  land  here;  and  a  Saybrook  man  feels  that  he  is  in  the  in- 
heritance of  his  fathers  when  he  reads  that  John  Pratt,  Robert  Chapman, 

33 


John  Clark  and  Stephen  Post  were  the  committee  which  brought  before 
the  General  Assembly  the  matter  of  settlement  already  begun  and  of 
organization  desired. 

Thus  it  was  that  there  came  settlers  to  this  place  from  the  old  settle- 
ments at  the  mouths  of  the  Connecticut  and  the  Tunxis,  from  the  Long 
Island  to  the  south  and  the  midst  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  to  the  north. 
It  was  a  time  of  prospecting  and  of  establishing  new  homes.  Though  the 
war  with  the  French  was  making  heavy  demands  on  the  men  of  Connecti- 
cut for  personal  service  and  for  taxes,  and  the  not  far  distant  frontier 
needed  defence,  the  life  of  the  colony  was  vigorous.  The  collegiate 
school,  established  but  seven  years  before,  was  maintaining  its  position 
and  graduating  such  men  as  Jared  Eliot,  Jonathan  Dickinson  and 
Samuel  Johnson;  and  at  the  seat  of  the  college  a  synod  was  about  to  meet, 
summoned  by  the  civil  authi.rity  at  the  instance  of  Governor  Saltonstall, 
to  frame  the'  Saybrook  platform.  The  two  generations  of  Englishmen 
who  had  lived  and  labored  in  the  ancient  settlements  and  in  their  daughter- 
towns  had  so  well  served  the  commonwealth  that  its  character  had  become 
fixed  in  matters  both  material  and  moral;  and  with  great  variety,  due  to 
diversity  of  place  and  circumstance,  their  successors  were  exercising  a  like 
influence. 

But  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  trace  out  the  history  of  this  town,  nor 
indeed  am  I  furnished  for  the  undertaking,  as  are  those  who  will  presently 
bring  it  before  you  in  its  man\'  interesting  details.  I  had  it  in  mind  but  to 
say  a  word  of  greeting  and  to  indicate  the  place  into  which  this  town  came 
two  centuries  ago.  I  should  like,  however,  to  speak  briefly  of  the  name 
of  the  town,  and  to  bear  testimony  to  its  contributions  to  the  written 
history  of  Connecticut. 

It  seems  strange  that  after  seventy  years  and  with  more  than  fort}?- 
town  names,  there  had  been  in  1708 'in  this  Puritan  and  Independent 
commonwealth  but  one  example  of  a  name  taken  from  the  Bible,  that  pf 
Lebanon  which  was  given  in  1695.  And  the  Lebanon  of  holy  Scripture  is. 
it  need  not  be  said,  the  name  of  a  mountain,  the  "white"  mountain  of 
Palestine,  and  not  of  a  city. 

Hebron  is  the  first  city  name  taken  from  the  Bible  for  a  Connecticut 
town.  It  was  proposed  by  the  legatees;  but  why  it  was  given,  or  who  first 
selected  it,  does  not  appear.  It  may  have  been  chosen  by  some  one  of  the 
ministers  who,  from  his  knowledge  of  Hebrew  (and  I  take  it  that  they  all 
knew  Hebrew  then),  recalling  that  the  word  means  a  confederacy,  thought 
it  apt  for  a  settlement  of  people  who  came  from  diverse  directions;  at  any 
rate,  we  are  assured  that  it  was  no  sudden  suggestion  in  the  General 
Assembly,  such  as  that  which  eighty  years  later  imposed  the  name  of 
Bozrah  on  a  place  which  asked  to  be  called  Bath;  and  it  gave  you  an 
historical  and  dignified  name. 

The  Hebron  from  which  you  borrowed  it  vies  with  Damascus  for  the 
honor  of  being  the  oldest  city  in  the  world;  it  was  old  in  Abraham's  day; 
we  read  that  it  "was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan  in  Egypt,"  and  scholars 
tell  us  that  these  words  tell  of  a  rebuilding  or  a  fortifying,  and  that  the  real 
foundation  was  still  farther  back  in  time.  The  mention  ofthe  name  recalls 
great  men  and  wonderful  events;  to-day  the  city  bears  the  title  by  which 
the  Arabs  speak  of  the  patriarch  who  is  buried  there,  "The  Friend",  and 
it  is  one  of  the  sacred  places  of  the  world.  Of  the  eight  Biblical  town- 
names  within  our  borders,  yours  is  among  the  most  famous  and  the  most 
inspiring. 

And  if  your  very  name  tells  of  history,  we  may  not  forget  that  two 
men  who  in  very  different  ways  wrote  the  history  of  Connecticut  were 
natives  of  this  town,  and  were  indeed  born  in  the  same  year,  173.S,  and 

34 


within  a  month  of  each  other.  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull,  after  his  gradua- 
tion at  Yale  College,  was  ordained  in  1760  over  the  church  of  the  standing 
order  in  North  Haven,  continuing  its  pastor  for  sixty  years  until  his  death 
at  the  age  of  85,  the  work  of  his  study  and  his  pulpit  being  uninterrupted 
except  by  his  service  as  soldier  and  chaplain  in  the  revolutionary  army. 
His  two  volumes  of  the  History  of  Connecticut,  published  with  an  interval 
of  twenty-one  years,  are  a  monument  to  his  diligence  and  a  mine  of  inform- 
ation for  all  subsequent  students.  Only,  as  he  tells  us,  by  employing  "all 
the  leisure  hours  which  he  could  possibly  redeem,  by  early  rising  and  an 
indefatigable  attention  to  business",  did  he  find  time  for  that  work  of 
research  the  fruits  of  which  we  enjoy  to-day.  Judging — again  to  use  his 
own  words,  though  in  condensed  form — that  authentic  history,  while  it 
instructs,  affords  also  an  exalted  pleasure,  and  that  not  only  to  the  man 
of  genius  and  curiosity  but  also  to  the  pious  man  who  views  a  divine  hand 
conducting  the  whole,  he  thought  it  wise  to  make  this,  the  first  history 
of  the  colony,  full  and  particular,  that  nothing  useful  or  important 
respecting  church  or  state  might  be  lost.  The  result,  we  gladly  acknowl- 
edge, was  worthy  of  the  plan.  He  "aimed  at  authenticity,  propriety  and 
perspicuity";  and  while  he  attained  these  excellent  qualities,  he  added  to 
them  that,  by  the  greatest  endowment  of  a  historian,  he  had  the  instinct 
to  tell  what  later  generations  would  want  to  know,  and  thus  made  his 
pages  interesting  even  when  he  devoted  nearly  half  a  hundred  of  them  to 
the  Wallingford  controversy.  It  is  no  little  honor  for  Hebron  that  it 
gave  to  Connecticut  its  great  historian,  Benjamin  Trumbull. 

The  name  of  his  townsman  and  contemporary,  Samuel  Peters,  may 
call  forth  a  smile  or  a  frown;  but  he  too  wrote  a  history  and  he  too  has 
added  to  your  fame,  his  connection  with  Hebron  being  more  generally 
known  than  that  of  Dr.  Trumbull.  He  too  was  graduated  at  Yale  College, 
but  two  years  before  the  other;  he  too  was  ordained,  but  in  England  by  a 
bishop;  he  too  continued  long  in  the  ministry — it  was  for  sixty-six  years— 
but  he  lived  here  and  in  England  and  later  in  Vermont,  and  in  the  very 
far  west  of  those  days,  and  then  in  loneliness  and  poverty  in  the  city  of 
New  York;  he  too  was  interrupted  by  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  but  it 
was  because  he  was  a  tory  and  an  outspoken  one;  and  he  too,  but  with 
scarcely  veiled  anonymity,  wrote  a  History  of  Connecticut.  Of  this 
volume  it  ma)^  be  truly  said  that  it  is  not  of  the  same  type  as  that  of  Dr. 
Trumbull,  while  it  should  not  be  denied  the  name  of  history.  Full  of 
anecdote,  pointed  in  its  sarcasm,  and  defying  the  attempts  of  either  lower 
or  higher  criticism  to  trace  its  constituent  parts  to  their  sources;  written 
with  a  grim  view  of  humor  at  a  time  when  that  kind  of  humor  was  not 
understood,  and  read  then  and  to-day  by  men  without  the  power  of  appre- 
ciating it;  the  work  of  one  who  drew  lines  straight  or  crooked  on  his  canvas, 
not  caring  whether  they  corresponded  or  not  to  what  was  actually  before 
him  if  only  they  helped  the  interpretation  of  his  picture,  a  very  impres- 
sionist in  words ;  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  volume  does  help  us  to  know 
men  and  things  as  they  presented  themselves  to  an  eccentric  but  discerning 
mind ;  and  it  certainly  has  added  to  the  world's  too  scanty  supply  of  humor. 

Some  day,  when  the  sores  which  he  rubbed  harshly  have  quite  healed 
over,  we  shall  all  laugh  at  it  and  admire  its  ingenuity  and  find  out  its  real 
contribution  to  the  history  of  our  colony  and  state.  While  I  have  been 
writing,  there  have  fallen  under  my  eyes  proofs  that  a  new  generation  is 
giving  Samuel  Peters  his  due.  In  almost  the  latest  published  part  of  the 
new  Oxford  English  dictionary,  he  is  quoted  as  the  authority  for  "Pope,  a 
name  given  in  New  England  to  the  whippoorwill,  by  reason  of  its  darting 
with  great  swiftness, from  the  clouds  almost  to  the  ground,  and  bawling  out 
'Pope'!"  and  also  for  "Pow-wow,"  as  "an  ancient  religious  rite,  annually 

35 


celebrated  by  the  Indians."  What  treasures  are  reserved  for  the  later 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  we  may  not  know  as  j^et.  But,  in  all  seriousness, 
when  the  whole  story  of  the  life  of  Dr.  Peters  comes  to  be  written,  you  of 
Hebron  will,  even  more  than  now,  be  glad  that  his  name  is  on  the  roll  of 
her  sons. 

I  leave  it  to  your  historians  of  to-day  to  read  the  record  of  what  has 
been  done  here.  But  I  will  not  close  without  a  greeting  from  the  historical 
society  of  the  state,  and  an  exhortation  to  you  to  guard  your  history  and 
its  annals,  and  to  make  it  and  them  known  "to  the  children  of  the  genera- 
tions to  come". 

"Auld  Lang  Syne"  was  then  sung,  the  audience  standing, 
and  a  paper  written  by  John  Homer  Bliss  of  Plainfield,  Conn., 
and  a  native  of  Hebron,  entitled  "Morey  and  Fulton"  was  read, 
closing  the  morning  programme. 


A  paper  prepared  for  the  Hebron  bi-centennial  celebration 
by  John  Homer  Bliss,  of  Plainfield,  Conn.,  a  native  of  Hebron. 

MOREY  AND  FULTON. 

It  may  not  be  known  to  many  in  Hebron  that  their  town  gave  to  the 
world  the  person  who  first  successfully  applied  steam  power  to  the  pur- 
poses of  navigation,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  such  is  the  fact, 
That  person  was  Samuel  Morey,  born  in  Hebron,  Conn.,  October  23,  1762. 
son  of  General  Israel  Morey  and  Martha  Palmer  of  Hebron,  who  with  their 
family  removed  to  the  Coos  country  in  Northern  New  Hampshire  in  1766 
in  an  ox  team.  The  statement  that  Capt.  Samuel  Morey  ran  a  steam 
ferry.tboat  between  the  towns  of  Orford,  N.  H.,  and  Fairlee,  Vt.,  as  early 
as  1793,  is  current  in  Orford,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Ward  now  of  that  place  thinks 
the  statement  is  correct. 

Rev.  Cyrus  Mann  of  Plymouth,  N.  H.,  and  Lowell,  Mass.,  a  cousin  of 
the  late  Judge  Cyrus  Mann  of  Hebron,  gave  an  account  in  a  Boston  paper 
many  years  ago  of  the  true  story  of  the  steamboat  which  he  himself 
"saw  when  he  was  a  boy,  on  the  Connecticut  River,  before  Fulton  had 
run  his  on  the  Hudson.  Of  this  boat  Morey  made  a  model  and  took  it 
to  New  York,  where  he  was  offered  by  Fulton  and  Livingston  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  if  he  would  perfect  his  invention  and  have  the  engine 
in  the  middle  instead  of  the  bow  of  the  boat.  This  he  succeeded  in  doing, 
but  when  he  came  with  his  improved  model  to  New  York  he  got  no  satis- 
faction, but  Livingston  got  a  monopoly  of  steam  navigation  upon  the 
Hudson  from  the  New  York  legislature,  and  Fulton  got  his  patent.  Morey 
complained  of  his  treatment  as  long  as  he  lived,  but  the  public  did  not  hear 
of  it,  and  Fulton  got  the  honors  for  an  invention  which  he  had  received 
from  another." 

I  do  not  vouch  for  any  of  the  above  statements  but  give  them 
verbatim  just  as  received;  but  judging  by  dates  they  seem  to  be  confirmed 
by  the  following  authorities: — 

Rev.  Royal  Robbins'  Outlines  of  Ancient  and  Modern  History,  pub- 
lished at  Hartford  in  1830,  page  375,  says  that  "Fulton  first  made  the 
experiment  of  propelling  boats  by  steam  at  Paris  in  1803;  after  which  he 

36 


returned  to  America  and  exhibited  a  boat  in  successful  operation  on  the 
waters  of  New  York."  This  was  ten  years  later  than  the  operations  of 
Morey  at  Orford. 

Collier's  Cyclopedia,  compiled  by  Nugent  Robinson,  New  York,  1888, 
page  357,  says  "Robert  Fulton's  steamboat,  the  Clermont,  made  her 
memorable  trip  from  New  York  to  Albany  on  Sept.  14,  1807." 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  Mann,  before  alluded  to  was  a  son  of  John  Mann  and 
Lydia  Porter  of  Hebron,  who  removed  to  Orford,  Oct.  16,  1765,  where 
Cyrus  was  born  April  3,  1785.  He  was  a  brother  of  the  late  Benning 
Mann,  who  is  well  remembered  as  a  police  justice  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  for 
many  years  some  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  and  who  was  familiarly  known  as 
'Squire  Mann.  I  have  not  the  date  of  Cyrus  Mann's  death,  but  his 
widow,  Mrs.  Mary  (Sweetser)  Mann,  died  in  Fairlee,  Vt.,  in  January,  1888, 
aged  102  years  and  two  months. 

J.  HOMER  BLISS. 


The  "Firing  of  the  Pump"  according  to  the  printed  pro- 
gramme, to  mark  the  noon  hour  was  purely  imaginary  but  the 
appetites  of  those  present  marked  it  most  effectively.  Chairman 
Jagger  and  his  able  associates  on  the  Entertainment  Committee 
were  ready  with  a  bountiful  repast.  Tables  were  spread  for 
the  invited  guests  in  the  dining  room  of  the  Congregational 
Church  and  a  large  tent  on  the  Green  contained  abundant 
supplies  for  every  person  present. 

A  bugle  call  announced  the  beginning  of  the  afternoon  exer- 
cises, which  opened  with  "Hail  to  the  Chief."  Chairman  Way 
then  introduced  His  Excellency,  Rollin  S.  Woodruff,  Governor 
of  Connecticut,  who  was  given  an  ovation  as  he  rose  to  speak 
and  during  his  patriotic  address  there  were  frequent  cheers  and 
applause. 


37 


INTRODUCTION  OF 
GOVERNOR  ROLLIN  S.  WOODRUFF. 


Looking  back  over  the  history  of  Hebron  in  the  notes  of  the 
historians  we  are  all  proud  when  we  find  that  one  of  our  towns- 
men, after  serving  a  term  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  selected 
for  and  elected  to  the  high  and  most  honorable  office  of  Governor 
of  the  Commonwealth.  I  refer  to  the  Hon.  John  S.  Peters,  who 
was  Governor  of  Connecticut  during  the  3^ears  1831  to  1833.  It 
may  interest  you  to  know  that  Hebron  also  furnished  one  State 
Treasurer,  Lucius  J.  Hendee,  whose  term  of  office  was  during 
the  years  1858  to  1861,  and  that  two  members  of  Congress  have 
gone  out  from  our  midst,  viz:  Sylvester  Gilbert,  1818  to  1819,  and 
Daniel  Burrows,  1821  to  1823.  We  may  also  take  pride  in,  if  not 
lay  claim  to.  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull,  of  Lebanon,  and 
Governor  William  A.  Buckingham,  of  Norwich,  by  reason  of 
their  having  been  born  in  towns  so  closely  related  to  this  town. 

It  is  a  great  honor  to  be  favored  with  a  visit  from  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  our  Commonwealth,  and  especially  when  the 
gentleman  so  distinguished  has  graced  the  office  as  has  its  present 
incumbent.  He  has  been  so  kind  as  to  accept  our  invitation, 
notwithstanding  his  many  responsibilities  and  calls  to  duty  in 
other  directions.  I  have  the  honor  to  introduce  as  the  next 
speaker.  His  Excellency,  Rollin  S.  Woodruff,  Governor  of 
Connecticut. 

ADDRESS  OF  GOVERNOR  WOODRUFF. 

After  some  complimentary  remarks  on  Hebron's  history  and  the 
sturdy  men  who  made  it  the  governor  launched  into  his  subject.  "In 
the  old  days"  he  said,  "when  Hebron  was  started  two  hundred  years  ago, 
your  ancestors  laid  the  foundation  upon  which  your  fortune  is  built,  and 
you  are  the  heirs  of  their  faithfulness.  Are  we  doing  for  others  what 
they  did  for  us?  Are  we  true  to  our  citizenship,  for  there  the  whole  thing 
rests.  The  individual  must  not  only  do  right  and  be  right  but  the  state 
must  do  right  and  be  right.     The  citizen  must  be  the  commonwealth. 

The  will  of  the  people  must  be  the  law  of  the  state.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  the  united  action  and  concurrence  of  all  people  working  in 

38 


favor  of  the  best  that  is  in  our  home,  our  community  and  our  state.  In 
one  word,  we  must  be  good  citizens  and  take  an  active  personal  interest 
in  our  public  qviestions  and  in  all  public  men. 

We  have  been  making  monej'^  in  America  very  fast.  We  are  all  en- 
gaged in  that  struggle.  In  our  haste  to  get  hold  of  the  material  things  that 
bring  comfort,  have  we  not  neglected  to  give  sufficient  attention  to  the 
government  which  is,  after  all,  the  bulwark  that  protects  us?  Have  we 
not  often  said,  'I'll  get  what  I  can  while  I  can,  and  let  the  future  take 
care  of  itself?'     What  if  our  ancestors  had  acted  in  that  spirit! 

My  friends,  we  are  in  the  future  before  we  know  it,  and  by  neglecting 
to  prepare  for  what  is  to  come,  we  endanger  our  present  safety.  These 
things  that  operate  against  one,  finally  operate  against  all.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  are  very  much  exercised  on  the  subject  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  fast  dawning  upon  them  that  the  government  does  not 
belong  to  a  few  men,  who  claim  to  represent  political  parties — a  small 
body  of  dictators  who  have  heretofore  assumed  the  right  to  nominate 
for  office  anyone  they  please,  regardless  of  any  consideration  for  the 
masses  of  the  people.  Our  states  have  been  too  long  dominated  by 
selfish  men,  serving  selfish  interests  and  manipulating  the  machinery  of 
government  to  suit  themselves.  We  will  never  have  just  laws  until  the 
people  make  them — until  we  have  popular  representation.  A  few  poli- 
ticians controlling  delegates  and  dictating  the  action  of  conventions  is 
not  popular  government. 

Popular  government  in  the  United  States  begins  where  the  citizens 
take  part  in  primaries,  where  the  delegations  are  chosen;  and  bears  fruit 
when  those  delegates  go  into  the  convention  unpledged,  and  with  an 
unselfish  honesty  of  purpose  choose  the  best  men  that  their  judgment 
can  agree  upon,  so  that  the  delegates  stand  before  the  people  free  and  un- 
fettered, like  men  and  like  Americans,  and  not  like  slaves,  obedient  to 
their  private  masters. 

I  say  that  popular  government  begins  at  the  primary  and  ends  at  the 
convention  because  after  that  it  is  too  late.  Yet,  no  matter  what  a  con- 
vention may  do,  we  still  have  public  opinion  to  reckon  with  and  public 
opinion  is  excited  at  this  time  in  the  different  states  of  the  country.  It  is 
aroused  and  excited  to  such  a  degree  that  no  man  can  hope  for  election,  no 
matter  to  what  party  he  belongs,  unless  he  inspires  confidence  among  the 
people.     This  will  be  a  critical  year. 

The  government  of  Connecticut  especially  concerns  us  and  is  a  serious 
matter  to  us  all.  Our  state  should  be  no  plaything  for  politicians  who 
serve  interests  entirely  selfish  and  antagonistic  to  the  commonwealth.  It 
is  our  home,  our  hope,  our  future,  and  all  our  happiness  that  depends  upon 
the  integrity  and  common  justice  of  our  laws. 

The  people  of  Hebron  are  called  upon  to  exercise  the  patriotism  of 
their  courageous  ancestors  to-day;  not  with  gun  and  sword,  but  with  the 
sturdy  fearlessness  of  independent  citizenship,  standing  in  defense  of 
those  liberties  that  come  down  the  years,  through  peril  and  poverty  and 
toil — back  to  the  honest  manhood  whose  virtues  you  celebrate  to-day." 

The  old  hymn,  "0  God,  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past"  was  sung 
to  the  tune  "St.  Ann's"  to  which  it  is  musically  wedded,  and 
F.  Clarence  Bissell  of  Willimantic,  the  historian,  was  introduced. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  F.  C  BISSELL, 

Deputy  Comptroller,  State  of  Connecticut. 

HISTORIAN  OF  THE  FIRST  HUNDRED  YEARS. 


History  forms  a  ver}^  important  part  in  these  proceedings, — 
in  fact,  it  is  history  that  we  are  assembled  here  to-day  to  com- 
memorate. 

The  historian  who  has  been  selected  to  cover  the  first  one 
hundred  years  of  our  town  was  born  in  Hebron,  and  closely 
identified  therewith  until  his  removal  to  Willimantic  in  1892. 
Mr.  F.  C.  Bissell  has  been  connected  with  the  State  Comptroller's 
office  at  Hartford  since  1898,  and  is  now  Deputy  Comptroller  of 
the  State.     He  needs  no  formal  introduction  to  this  audience. 

ADDRESS  OF  F.  CLARENCE  BISSELL. 

In  preparing  this  address  the  most  serious  difficulty  has  been  in 
determining  what  to  leave  out.  The  idea!  trying  to  cover  the  history  of 
a  hundred  years  in  an  address  of  half  an  hour! 

So,  if  you  find  some  pet  tradition  omitted  or  even  some  important 
fact  but  slightly  mentioned,  attribute  it  to  the  newspaper  publisher's 
apology,  "lack  of  space." 

When  our  ancestors  made  their  appearance  here  two  centuries  ago, 
the  country  was  covered  by  a  practically  unbroken  forest  but  without 
underbrush  or  thickets  except  upon  banks  of  rivers  and  in  marshy  places. 
Such  paths  as  led  through  these  forests  were  winding,  narrow  footways 
along  which  the  Indian  and  the  wild  animal  alike  traveled  in  single  file. 

Few  Indians  inhabited  this  particular  locality,  so  far  as  history  or 
tradition  states,  although  "Burnt  Hill"  is  said  to  have  been  kept  clear 
by  annual  burning  and  used  by  some  of  these  wanderers  as  a  planting 
ground  for  their  corn,  a  circumstance  from  which  the  name  originated. 

INDIAN  TITLE 

The  first  title  to  the  land  of  the  township  was  from  the  will  of  Joshua 
or  Attawanhood,  Sachem  of  the  Western  Nehantics  and  the  third  son  of 
Uncas,  the  great  Sachem  of  the  Mohegans.  He  lived  near  Eight  Mile 
Island  in  Lyme  and  died  in  May  1676  during  an  expedition  against  the 
warlike  Indians,  in  which  he  and  his  father,  tJncas,  assisted  the  English. 
The  will  was  signed  Feb.  29,  1675-6  and  admitted  to  probate  in  New  Lon- 
don County  Court  Sept.  19,  1676.  The  General  Court  also  allowed  and 
established  the  will  at  its  May  session  1679. 

In  this  will  he  gave  to  Capt.  Robert  Chapman,  Lt.  Willm.  Pratt,  Mr. 
Thos.  Buckingham,  Willm.  Parker,  Senr.,  Willm.  Lord,  Senr.,  Robt.  Lay, 
Senr.,  Abraham  Post,  Samll.  Jones,  John  Clark.  Tho.  Dunk,  Richd.  Ely, 
John  Fenner,  Francis  Bushnell,  Senr.,  Edward  Shipman,  Senr.,  Mr.  John 
Westall,  John  Pratt,  John  Chapman,  John  Parker,  Willm.  Lord,  Jr., 
Saml.  Cogswell,  Lydia  Beamont,  John  Tully,  Richard  Raymond,  Senr., 
Abraham  Chalker,  Willm.  Bushnell.,  Senr.,  Joseph  Ingham,  Senr.,  John 

40 


FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH— Dedicated  May   I,    1883 


ST.  PETER'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH— Consecrated  October  19,   1826 


Bushnell  and  Tho.  Norton,*  *  *  *  "All  that  tract  of  land  lying  on  both  sides 
Unguoshot  River  abutting  Westward  to  the  insight  of  Hartford  and  of 
Hartford  bounds  North  to  Majr.  John  Talcotts  farm  Northeast  to  Watto- 
choquisk  upon  the  East  side  bounded  eight  miles  in  bredth  from  the 
mountains  eastward  and  to  carry  that  bredth  throughout  the  length  being 
eighteen  miles  and  according  to  a  mapp  drawn  and  subscribed  with  my 
own  hand  bearing  date  with  these  presents." 

This  description,  drawn  with  characteristic  Indian  recklessness  and 
disregard  of  actual  measurements,  made  our  ancestors  a  deal  of  trouble. 
The  only  things  about  it  that  have  stood  the  test  of  time,  are  that  it  was 
"lying  on  both  sides  Unguoshot  river"  and  the  northern  boundary 
"Major  John  Talcott's  farm,  northeast  to  Wattochoquisk  upon  the  east 
side."  This  Unguoshot  river  was  the  stream  known  at  the  present  time 
as  the  Blackledge.  The  Indian  name  of  this  river,  as  in  many  other  cases 
is  taken  from  some  land  mark  adjoining  and  according  to  "Trumbull's 
Indian  Names"  (page  75)  "Denotes  land  at  the  bend  or  crotch  of  the  brook 
where  Blackledge  bends  eastward  to  its  union  with  Fawn  river."  The 
northern  boundary  was  a  farm  deeded  to  Major  John  Talcott  by  the 
Indians  in  1674  and  the  Indian  name  of  the  locality,  Wattochoquisk, 
signified  according  to  Trumbull  "a  boggy  meadow,"  which  was  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  old  town  of  Coventry. 

The  total  area,  eight  miles  in  breadth  and  eighteen  miles  in  length 
was  much  larger  than  the  actual  measurements,  which  were  at  the  most 
but  about  seven  by  ten  miles. 

Trumbull  the  historian  says  "By  will  of  said  Uncas,  all  the  lands  in 
Hebron  were  bequeathed  to  Thomas  Buckingham,  Esq  ,  William  Shipman 
and  others,  called  the  Saybrook  Legatees,  except  about  2,600  acres  at  the 
northeast  corner,  and  about  4,000  acres  at  the  south  end  of  the  town. 
There  were  about  700  within  the  parish  of  Marlborough.  These  lands 
were  claimed  by  Mason." 

This  claim  was  under  a  deed  given  by  the  Sachem  Uncas,  and  it 
made  much  trouble  for  the  settlers. 

COLONIAL  PATENT 

The  "Governor  and  Company  assembled  in  General  Court  according 
to  the  commission  and  by  the  vertue  of  power  granted  to  them  by  our  late 
Soveraigne  Charles  the  Second  of  blessed  memory  in  his  letters  pattent 
bearing  date  the  three  &  twentyeth  day  of  April  in  the  fowerteenth  year 
of  his  sayd  Maties  reigne"  issued  a  patent  to  the  persons  named  in  the  will 
of  Joshua,  Robert  Chapman  and  others  for  the  land  described  as  being 
given  to  them  by  said  will.  This  patent  in  the  quaint  legal  phraseology 
of  the  period  covered  "all  the  woods,  uplands,  arrable  lands,  meadows, 
pastures,  ponds,  waters,  rivers,  fishings,  huntings,  ,foulings,  mines, 
minerals,  quaries,  precious  stones  upon  or  within  said  tracts  of  lands  with 
all  other  proffits,  comodities  thereunto  belonging"  and  described  the  title 
as  being  "according  to  the  tenure  of  his  Maties  manor  of  East  Greenwich 
in  the  County  of  Kent  in  the  Kingdom  of  England  in  free  and  common 
socage  &  not  in  cappitte  nor  by  knight  service,  they  yielding  &  paying 
therefor  to  o'  Soveraigne  Lord  the  King  his  heirs  &  successors  only  the 
fifth  part  of  all  the  oare  of  gold  and  silver,  which  from  time  to  time  and  at 
all  times  hereafter  shall  be  there  gotten,  had  or  obteyned  in  lieu  of  all 
rents,  services,  duties  &  demands  whatsoever,  according  to  charter" 

This  was  dated  June  8,  1687. 

PROPRIETORS 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  title  to  these  lands  antedated  the 

41 


incorporation  of  the  town,  and  was  given  to  the  company  of  proprietors, 
who  were  known  as  "The  Legatees  of  Joshua"  or  the  "Saybrook  Legatees," 
few  of  whom  were  settlers  on  the  land.  Their  book  of  record  in  town 
clerk's  office  commences  about  1700  and  relates  at  length  their  efforts  to 
get  their  land  in  condition  for  disposal  to  actual  settlers. 

Thev  made  agreements  with  Colchester  and  Lebanon  proprietors  as  to 
their  boundaries,  which  fell  far  short  of  the  eight  by  eighteen  miles  of 
Joshua's  will  and  the  Colonial  patent,  surveyors  were  appointed  to  lay  out 
the  lots  and  a  "rate  upon  ye  legatees"  laid  to  pay  the  expense  thereof. 
A  thousand  acres  each  were  set  aside  for  the  first  minister,  the  school,  and 
the  collegiate  school  at  Saybrook. 

November  10,  1702  the  lots  in  the  first  division  were  drawn,  eighty- 
six  in  number  and  they  were  evidently  in  the  market  for  customers.  A 
number  of  these  were  soon  after  sold  to  actual  settlers  and  the  drawing  of 
lots  in  new  divisions  followed  from  time  to  time  for  several  years.  At  a 
meeting  February  19,  1706-7  the  proprietors  appointed  a  committee  to 
present  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  "for  the  granting  of  a  township 
within  said  lands"  and  yt  the  name  of  the  said  place  ma}^  be  called 
Hebron".  In  conformity  thereto,  it  was  established  and  recorded  a 
township  and  the  name  of  Hebron  confirmed  upon  it  at  the  May  session 
1707.  It  should  be  noted  that  this  was  not  the  incorporation  of  the  town, 
which  event  we  are  celebrating  to-day,  but  a  naming  of  a  township  or 
proprietoary  holding,  the  lands  of  which  were  being  put  in  the  market  by 
the  proprietors.  * 

They  continued  their  existence  as  proprietors  for  many  years,  holding 
meetings  from  time  to  time  for  the  transaction  of  their  business.  The 
first  meeting  in  Hebron  was  probably  May  2,  1710,  before  that  having 
been  held  at  Saybrook.  They  laid  out  highways,  appropriated  money  to 
aid  the  settlers  in  providing  for  a  minister  and  in  building  a  house  for  him, 
made  new  divisions  of  land  among  themselves  and  vigorously  fought  with 
the  proprietors  of  the  surrounding  townships  who  tried  to  encroach  upon 
their  territory.  In  this  latter  capacity,  as  good  fighters,  they,  as  well  as 
the  actual  settlers  at  a  later  period,  achieved  quite  an  enviable  notoriety 
and  gained  the  reputation  of  being  a  hard  lot  to  impose  upon. 

The  last  recorded  meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held  January  14, 
17S2. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENT. 

Nearly  one  hundred  years  after  that  of  Jamestown,  Va.,  eighty-five 
years  after  Plymouth  and  seventy  years  after  the  first  English  settlements 
in  Connecticut,  the  settlement  of  the  town  commenced. 

Twenty-five  years  before  this  the  Governor  of  the  colony  in  answer 
to  an  inquiry  made  by  the  Lords  of  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Foreign 
Plantations,  said  in  regard  to  the  unsettled  land  in  the  colony,  that  it 
was  "a  mountainous  country,  full  of  rocks,  swamps,  hills  and  water  and 
most  that  is  fit  for  plantations  is  taken  up;  what  remains  must  be  subdued 
and  gained  out  of  the  fire,  as  it  were,  by  hard  blows  and  for  small  recom- 
pense". 

At  this  time  there  were  about  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants  in  the 
colony  of  Connecticut,  settled  in  thirty  townships,  chiefly  on  the  Sound 
and  upon  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  and  Thames  rivers.  The  settle- 
ment of  but  few  inland  towns  had  been  commenced,  the  nearest  being 
Windham,  Lebanon  and  Colchester. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Trumbull,  D.  D.,  born  in  Hebron  in  1735,  author 
of  the  first  complete  history  of  Connecticut,  and  who  devoted  a  large  part 
of  his  life  to  gathering  the  material  for  his  history,  in  which  it  is  well  said 

42 


that  "fidelity  and  accuracy  are  so  conspicuous",  makes  this  statement, 
"The  settlement  of  the  town  began  in  June,  1704.  The  first  people  who 
made  settlements  in  the  town  were  William  Shipman,  Timothy  Phelps, 
Samuel  Filer,  Caleb  Jones,  Stephen  Post,  Jacob  Root,  Samuel  Curtis, 
Edward  Sawyer,  Joseph  Youngs  and  Benoni  Trumbull.  They  were  from 
Windsor,  Saybrook,  Long  Island  and  North  Hampton" 

David  Barber,  born  in  Hebron  in  1717,  in  his  "Antiquities  of  He- 
bron" written  about  1795  says  that  settlements  commenced  "about  1704 
or  1705". 

Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  D.  D.,  born  in  Hebron  in  1735,  in  his  manuscript 
"History  of  Hebron",  written  in  New  York  City  in  1822,  says  it  was 
"settled  in  1705". 

Hon.  Sylvester  Gilbert,  M.  C,  born  in  Hebron,  1755,  in  his  manu- 
script "Hebron  Statistics,  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical"  written  in  1828, 
quotes  from  Trumbull's  History  above  and  gives  date  as  1704. 

The  late  Ex-Governor  John  S.  Peters,  born  in  Hebron  in  1772,  in  his 
manuscript  "HiEtorical  Notes,"  written  in  1843,  says,  "The  firstpermanent 
settlers  were  William  Shipman  of  Saybrook  and  Timothy  Phelps  of  Wind- 
sor. They  built  log  houses,  on  ground  now  occupied  by  Ira  Bissell  and 
Joel  Willcox,  in  autumn  of  1705".  The  foundation  stones  of  one  of  the 
above  houses  were  found  in  1845  in  digging  earth  to  fill  the  cellar  of  the 
old  house  a  few  rods  south  of  the  one  occupied  by  my  father,  Frederic  P. 
Bissell,  and  now  owned  by  myself. 

Ex-Governor  Peters  in  his  "Historical  Notes"  relates  the  following 
anecdote : 

"While  the  men  were  making  preparations  for  their  families  in  the 
summer  of  1706  they  brought  their  provisions  with  them  and  remained  for 
weeks  at  their  new  home.  Their  wives  being  anxious  for  the  welfare  of 
their  husbands  and  unwilling  to  be  left  too  long  alone,  four  or  five  started 
one  shining  morning  for  the  promised  land,  twenty  long  miles  through 
the  wilderness,  regulating  their  course  by  marked  trees  and  crossing  the 
streams  on  logs  felled  for  that  purpose.  Night  overtook  them  in  the  lower 
part  of  Gilead,  they  wandered  from  the  line  and  brought  up  on  the  hill  south 
of  Nathan  Smith's  house.  Fearing  the  wolves  would  regale  themselves 
upon  their  delicious  bodies  they  concluded  to  roost  upon  the  top  of  the 
high  rock  on  the  summit  of  said  hill.  Here  they  proclaimed  their  lamen- 
tations to  the  winds.  This  novel  serenade  attracted  the  attention  of  their 
husbands,  who  wandered  towards  the  sound  until  they  fortunately  but 
unexpectedly  found  their  wives  on  the  rock,  which  they  had  chosen  for 
their  night's  repose.  The  gratification  of  the  interview  can  be  better 
imagined  than  expressed." 

The  location  of  this  rock  has  been  handed  down  to  the  present  time 
and  it  is  now  known  as  "Prophet's  Rock." 

Again  quoting  from  Trumbull  the  historian,  "The  settlement,  at  first, 
went  on  but  slowly;  partly,  by  reason  of  opposition  by  Mason  and  the 
Moheagans,  and  partly,  by  reason  of  the  extensive  tracts  claimed  by 
proprietors,  who  made  no  settlements.  Several  acts  of  the  assembly  were 
made  and  committees  appointed  to  encourage  and  assist  the  planters. 
By  these  means  they  so  increased  in  numbers  and  wealth  that  in  about  six 
or  seven  years  they  'were  enabled  to  erect  a  meeting  hotise  and  settle  a 
minister  among  them". 

A  petition  from  the  settlers  to  the  General  Court  in  May,  1712,  thus 
describes  their  situation.  Regarding  the  proprietors  and  the  settlement 
of  the  town  it  says  "It  is  now  above  seven  years  since  they  began  it,  but 
they  are  so  far  from  making  any  distribution  or  giving  any  suitable  accom- 
modation to  encourage  the  settlement  of  a  good  plantation  as  they  were 

43 


> 


engaged  to  do,  that  no  land  can  be  had  bvit  at  excessive  rates,  and  they 
keep  by  far  the  greater  part  in  their  hands  so  that  there  is  but  a  few 
scattered  families  in  the  whole  plantation,  who  are  altogther  unable  to 
live  in  any  Christian  or  scarce  so  much  as  civil  society.  And  now  at  last 
our  titles  are  so  far  questioned  by  themselves  as  that  of  late  they  have 
solicited  us  to  join  with  them  to  buy  off  Capt.  John  Mason's  native  right, 
the  want  whereof  is  indeed  one  great  reason  why  the  plantation  is  not  well 
settled".      (State  Library,  "Towns  and  Lands,  ITL  16"). 

As  to  their  law  suits  regarding  their  landtitles,  Ex-Governor  Peters 
says,  "They  become  emminent  for  their  tactics  in  managing  their  suits  and 
producing  testimony  to  support  their  respective  claims  and  their  hard 
scrambles  for  the  things  that  perish  gave  rise  to  a  remark  of  the  eccentric 
Mr.  Whitfield  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  town  "You  Hebronians  are 
more  fond  of  the  flesh  than  of  the  spirit  and  of  earth  than  heaven" '. 

These    land    controversies    with    adjoining    proprietors    and    towns ' 
continued  for  many  years  and  petitions  to  the  General  Court  for  assistance 
and  advice  are  found  as  late  as  1738.     About  this  time  the  town  bound- 
aries seem  to  have  been  practically  settled,  although  some  changes  were 
made  considerably  later,  probably  caused  by  local  conditions. 

INCORPORATION   OF  TOWN 

In  May,  1708,  the  following  petition  was  presented  to  the  General 
Assembly  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  township  "To  the  Honourd  Generall 
Assembly  now  sitting  in  Hartford,  May  13,  1708. 

Whereas  the  Generall  Assembly  in  May  last  granted  liberty  for  a 
township  at  a  place  then  called  Hebron  and  whereas  there  are  nine  f  amilyes 
allready  settled  there  and  divers  more  desiring  to  come  as  soon  as  they  can. 
we  being  far  from  any  meeting  house  and  being  desirous  to  set  up  ye  wor- 
ship of  God  amongst  us  do  pray  this  Honed.  Generall  Assembly  now  sitting 
to  grant  to  us  the  inhabitants  of  Hebron  all  ye  privilidges  of  a  town  that 
thereby  we  may  be  inabled  to  take  such  methods  as  most  suitable  and 
agreeable  to  our  present  circumstances  to  raise  money  for  the  support  of 
the  gospel  and  defraying  other  necessary  charges  amongst  us  as  well  as 
for  chuseing  town  officers  amongst  us  and  dividing  our  lands  and  all  other 
things  proper  for  us  as  a  town  without  which  we  find  that  we  shall  not  be 
able  to  continue  here  and  we  shall  submit  to  such  regulations  as  this 
Honed.  Assembly  shall  think  fitt. 

Jac^'b  Root  in  the  name  of  the  Rest". 
(State  Library,  Towns  and  Lands,  III,  14.) 

The  record  of  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  vinder  date  of 
May  26,  1708  is  as  follows,  "This  Assembly,  upon  the  petition  of  Jacob 
Root  and  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Hebron,  do  grant  to 
them  the  privilidges  of  a  town  that  they  may  choose  town  officers  and  be 
enabled  to  raise  money  for  civil  and  religious  uses".  (Printed  Colonial 
Records,  V.  64). 

This  action  of  the  General  Assembly  completed  the  incorporation  of 
the  town,  the  event  which  we  celebrate  to-day. 

EVENTS  FOLLOWING  INCORPORATION 

The  town  having  been  incorporated  it  was  in  a  position  to  transact 
its  own  business  by  means  of  town  meetings.  The  first  one  of  these,  or  at 
least  the  one  upon  the  first  page  of  the  first  book  of  records  of  town  meet- 
ings, is  upon  a  leaf  which  is  frayed  by  age,  and  the  date  is  indistinct,  but 
is  probably  September  20,  1708.  The  leaf  is  torn  so  that  the  names  of  the 
officers  chosen  cannot  be  given  accurately. 

The  first  complete  record  of  election  of  town  officers  is  under  date  of 

44 


December  2 1 ,  1 709.  At  that  time  the  following  town  officers  were  chosen : 
Nathaniel  Phelps,  Town  Clerk;  Edward  Sawyer,  Constable;  Stephen  Post, 
Timothy  Phelps,  Samuel  Palmer,  Townsmen;  Morris  Tyletson,  Surveyor 
of  Highways;  Samuel  Curtic,  Lister. 

A  white  oak  between  the  houses  of  Edward  Sawyer  and  Nathaniel 
Phelps  was  designated  as  a  sign-post  and  the  town  brand  for  cattle  was 
voted  to  be  a  diamond.  From  that  date  to  the  present,  the  records  of 
town  meetings  are  apparently  complete  and  contain  a  vast  amount  of 
interesting  matter,  throwing  much  light  upon  the  town's  history. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  some  of  the  business  transacted  at  the 
earlier  meetings. 

In  1710  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  was  authorized,  a  tax  for 
civil  and  religious  use  laid,  and  the  transportation  out  of  town  of 
timber,  wood,  hay  or  stone  forbidden.  Joseph  Dewey  was  voted  "the 
privilege  of  the  stream  between  us  and  Colchester  for  the  use  of  a  corn 
mill".  A  highway  laid  out  from  Samuel  Palmer's  lot  to  the  lot  next  north 
of  Edward  Sawyer's.  Voted  that  "Aron  Porter  of  Hadley  should  be  sought 
out  to  came  and  preach  among  us".  Meetings  to  be  held  at  dwelling 
house  of  Ebenezer  Willcox. 

In  1711  two  men  were  chosen  to  go  down  to  Saybrook  to  endeavor 
to  hire  a  minister  for  one-fourth  of  a  year,  and  the  house  of  Caleb  Jones 
was  voted  to  be  the  place  of  meeting  on  Sabbath  days. 

In  1712  the  widow  Jones'  house  was  voted  to  be  the  place  of  meeting 
on  sabbath  days.  The  right  in  the  stream  southeast  of  Moris  Tillotson's 
given  to  anyone  for  a  saw  mill  for  the  towns  use,  (this  was  the  stream  near 
George  C.  Tennant's,  thereafter  known  as  "Old  Sawmill  Brook"),  180  acres 
of  land  laid  out  for  the  encouragement  and  settlement  of  first  minister  and 
50;^  salary  offered.  Another  committee  appointed  to  endeavor  to  procure 
a  minister,  and  a  tax  laid  to  pay  the  town's  debts  which  then  amounted 
to  13£  17s  8d. 

In  1713  the  principal  business  of  the  town  meetings  appear  to  be 
endeavors  to  hire  a  minister. 

The  same  condition  prevailed  in  1714  with  the  variation  of  a  bound- 
ary dispute  with  Colchester,  and  a  meeting  house  was  voted  to  be  built 
30  feet  long,  24  feet  broad  and  18  feet  high.  This  is  to  be  located,  accord- 
ing to  the  committee's  report,  "in  the  highway,  or  supposed  highway, 
that  comes  into  the  street  or  highway  that  runs  northerly  and  southerly 
by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Phelps,  that  comes  in  southerly  at  a  field  wholly  taken 
in  by  Dr.  Hosford  *  *  *  southerly  of  the  Doctor's  said  field".  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  proceed  and  endeavor  toward  the  settling  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Terry  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  (this  endeavor  as  well  as  that  toward 
Aron  Porter  of  Hadley  was  evidently  unsuccessful,  although  Mr.  Terry 
preached  a  few  months  in  1714.)  A  tax  was  laid  for  the  building  of 
meeting  house.  Benjamin  Skinner,  then  of  Colchester  was  voted  the 
right  of  the  west  brook  for  a  corn  mill  (this  was  at  Hope  Valley),  and  the 
town  having  increased  in  inhabitants,  three  places  were  designated  as 
public  sign  posts,  the  former  sign  post,  which  was  the  tree  between  Phelps' 
and  Sawyer's,  Joseph  Dewey's  door  and  a  post  near  Dr.  Hosford 's  house. 

In  1715  the  endeavors  for  procuring  a  minister  seem  to  have  borne 
fruit,  for  it  was  voted  that  John  Bliss  should  have  the  100  acres  already 
laid  out  for  a  minister,  and  instructions  were  given  regarding  the  building 
of  a  house  for  him,  his  salary,  already  voted  to  be  50p(^,  was  to  be  added  to 
^£  yearly,  until  it  amounts  to  70  or  75£,  and  furnish  him  with  firewood. 
The  places  for  meetings  on  Sabbath  days  were  to  be  at  the  houses  of 
Nathaniel  Phelps  and  David  Barber;  and  the  first  tavern  keeper  was 
chosen,  Nathaniel  Phelps. 

45 


In  1716  an  additional  notice  for  town  meeting  was  to  be  posted  on 
Benjamin  Skinner's  mill,  (at  Hope  Valle}^  a,nd  the  first  representative  to 
the  General  Court  was  chosen  April  24th,  the  record  reading  as  follows: 
"Nathaniel  Phelps  was  chosen  to  represent  the  town  at  the  General  Court 
in  May  next". 

About  this  time  the  question  of  the  erection  of  a  meeting  house  began 
to  be  a  bvirning  one,  and  the  influence  of  the  northern  part  of  the  town 
appears  to  be  felt,  for  in  July,  1716,  it  was  voted  that  the  meeting  house 
should  be  built  "between  the  northwest  corner  of  Dr.  Hosford's  new  field 
and  the  southermost  corner  of  the  minister's  meadow".  (This  is  north 
of  village,  on  road  to  Gilead  and  near  Humphrey  T.  Fuller  place).  The 
southern  men  evidently  rallied  to  the  support  of  their  convictions,  for  in 
August,  1716,  they  repealed  the  former  vote  and  "voted  that  it  should  be 
set  south  of  Dr.  Hosford's  new  field  in  the  supposed  highway".  (This  was 
on  the  green,  in  front  of  Hendee  house.)  To  this  last  vote  of  repeal 
Thomas  Brown  with  eight  other  northern  men  entered  their  protest.  The 
General  Assembly  appointed  a  committee  in  October  for  settling  this 
question  and  on  November  9,  1716,  they  reported  a  place  for  the  building 
of  the  meeting  house,  where  it  was  finally  erected,  on  the  green.  In  the 
meantime  Mr.  John  Bliss  was  employed  as  a  minister  and  meetings  were 
held  in  private  houses  and  in  Dr.  Hosford's  barn,  pending  the  building  of 
the  meeting  house. 

April  5,  1717  it  was  voted  that  the  male  members  of  the  church,  in 
full  communion,  should  determine  the  date  of  Mr.  Bliss'  ordination.  The 
names  of  these  male  members  were  given  in  the  vote  and  are  Jacob  Root, 
Nathaniel  Dunham,  Samuel  Caulkins,  John  Porter,  John  Gott  and 
Benjamin  Skinner.  The  ordination  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss  finally  took  place 
Nov.  19,  1717  but  the  meeting  house  was  not  completed  for  several  years, 
as  we  find  votes  from  time  to  time  appropriating  money  for  completing 
it.  The  seating  of  the  meeting  house  was  ordered  April  15,  1720  and  the 
seaters  were  directed,  after  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss  had  the  first  choice  for  his 
wife  and  family,  to  consider  the  age,  rateable  estate  and  what  each  person 
paid  toward  the  ministry  and  building  the  minister's  house  and  the 
meeting  house.  This  was  called  "dignifying"  the  meeting  house.  All  the 
members  between  16  and  21  years  old  were  also  to  have  seats  assigned 
them  according  to  their  age  and  the  dignity  of  parents  and  masters. 

In  1723  it  was  again  voted  to  finish  the  meeting  house  by  plastering 
up  as  high  as  the  lower  girths  and  putting  in  glass  windows,  and  to  send 
to  Boston  for  glass  and  lead. 

In  1724  the  floors  in  the  gallery,  the  gallery  stairs  and  seats  were 
completed. 

In  1727  they  added  20;^  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss'  salary,  and  in  1729 
they  increased  his  salary  to  100;^,  but  to  this  latter  vote  Daniel  Birge 
entered  his  solemn  protest. 

In  1730  more  pews  were  built  over  the  gallery  stairs. 

SETTLEMENTS   FOLLOWING  INCORPORATION 

As  stated  in  the  petition  to  the  General  Court  there  were  but  nine 
families  in  the  town  at  its  incorporation  in  1708.  Other  settlers  followed, 
slowly  at  first,  but  as  the  land  controversies  became  settled  they  came  in 
greater  numbers.  At  the  time  the  map  of  the  town  was  made  in  1 744  there 
were  151  houses  upon  it.  The  names  of  some  of  these  early  settlers  are 
as  follows: 

From  Windsor:  Owen,  Gaylord,  Palmer,  Hosford,  Barber,  White, 
Phelps,  Skinner,  Strong,  Birge,  Bissell  and  Porter. 

From  Saybrook:  Merrill,  Welles,  Shipman,  Tillotson,  Waters,  Jones, 
Post,  Ingham,  and  Bushnell. 

46 


From  England:  Slade,  Bond  and  Sutton. 

From  Lebanon:  Buell,  Mann,  Mudge,  Newcomb,  Chappell,  and 
Gillett. 

From  Colchester:  Gilbert,  Skinner,  Brown  and  Kellogg. 

From  Lynn,  Mass. :  Tarbox  and  Gott. 

From  Leicester,  Mass. :  Peters,  Kneeland  and  Russ. 

From  Norwich:  Rev.  John  Bliss,  Calkins  and  Heaton. 

From  East  Haddam:  Rowlee. 

From  North  Hampton,  Mass. :  Porter. 

From  Boston:  Dr.  William  Sumner. 

From  Westfield,  Mass.:  Dewey. 

From  Lyme:  Mack  and  Pennock. 

From  other  places:  Sweetland,  Hutchinson,  Beach,  Curtis,  Dunham, 
Wilson,  White,  Cass  and  Crouch. 

DIVISION   INTO  PARISHES 

opposing  opinions  of  the  northern  and  southern  parties,  in  regard  to 
the  location  of  the  meeting  house,  had  shown  themselves  at  the  settling 
of  the  first  minister,  but  they  now  began  to  bear  serious  fruit.  At  a  town 
meeting  held  April  4,  1733,  fifty  or  more  of  the  inhabitants  appeared  and 
petitioned  to  be  set  off  into  a  distinct  and  separate  society,  provided  the 
General  Court  shoiild  grant  liberty,  and  asked  that  they  should  be  forever 
released  from  paying  anything  for  Rev.  Mr.  Bhss,  provided  they  should 
maintain  their  own  minister.  The  petition  however  was  denied  by  the 
town.  The  ground  of  this  trouble  was  not  entirely  a  geographical  one, 
but  there  was  an  underlying  dissatisfaction  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss.  He 
had  already  been  tried  before  a  meeting  of  the  south  consociation  of 
Hartford  county  at  a  meeting  held  in  Hebron  Nov.  16,  1731  upon  several 
charges,  notably  that  of  "habitual  intemperance."  These  charges  were 
decided  by  the  council  as  not  proven  and  he  was  continued  in  charge  until 
late  1733  or  early  1734  when  he  was  dismissed  by  this  authority.  This 
proved  perhaps  the  most  unwise  action  of  all,  for  his  friends,  chiefly  of  the 
northern  party,  continued  to  hold  meetings  at  his  house  for  religious 
services,  claiming  that  the  action  of  the  council  in  dismissing  him  was 
illegal,  and  that  he  was  consequently  the  only  regularly  ordained  minister 
in  town.  This  holding  of  schismatic  services  was  not  to  be  tolerated  by 
the  town  authorities,  as  it  was  a  grievous  offense  under  the  statute  law, 
and  Mr.  Bliss  and  five  of  his  most  prominent  supporters  were  presented 
before  the  Hartford  County  Court  June  17,  1735  charged  with  having 
"carryed  on  divine  worship  contrary  to  the  statutes  of  this  colony". 
They  were  found  not  guilty,  but  the  costs  of  court  were  taxed  againstthem, 
amounting  to  about  5;^  to  each  person.  They  appeared  before  the  Gen- 
eral Court  in  October,  1735  asking  for  redress,  and  one-half  the  costs  were 
remitted. 

The  difficulties  of  Mr.  Bliss  and  his  friends  regarding  the  holding  of 
religious  services  were  solved  by  their  declaring  themselves  for  the  Church 
of  England  and  organizing  a  parish  in  1734  or  1735.  A  letter  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Seabury,  missionary  of  the  S.  P.  G.  at  New  London,  under  whose 
care  they  placed  themselves,  says  that  in  1736  there  were  twenty  families 
that  belonged  to  this  separation. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Pomeroy  succeeded  Mr.  Bliss  as  the  minister  of 
the  town,  beginning  to  preach  in  1734  and  ordained  December  16,  1735. 
He  was  (quoting  from  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Trumbull)  "A  man  of  real 
genius,  grave,  solemn  and  weighty  in  his  discourses  *****  he  might  be 
reckoned  among  the  best  preachers  of  his  day".  Was  prominently 
identified  with  the  great  revival  of  1740  and  was  one  of  the  foremost 
"new  lights"  of  the  day.      His  usefulness  was  not  confined  to  his  own 

47 


parish,  for  in  spite  of  the  law,  he  persisted  in  preaching  in  the  adjoining 
towns  without  the  leave  of  the  resident  ministers,  for  which  he  was  con- 
demned by  the  General  Assembly,  and  deprived  of  his  salary  for  several 
years.  He  was  a  chaplain  in  the  French  War  and  also  in  the  Revolution. 
Was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  which  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  D.D.  He  had  charge  of  the  Hebron  church  till 
his  death,  Dec.  22,  1784,  for  more  than  a  year  previous  to  which  he  had 
been  entirely  blind.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Kellogg  who 
had  charge  of  the  parish  from  June,  1788,  to  July,  1793.  The  Rev.  Amos 
Bassett,  D.D.  succeeded  in  Nov.,  1794,  and  he  was  in  charge  of  the  parish 
at  the  end  of  the  first  hundred  years. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  dismissal  of  the  Rev.  John  Bliss  in  1734 
still  continued  to  exist  and  showed  themselves  in  an  agitation  for  the 
formation  of  other  parishes  of  the  Established  Congregational  Church 
within  the  town.  The  first  meeting  house  too  began  to  grow  old,  and  the 
location  of  a  new  one  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  The  town  meetings  on 
this  subject  were  almost  continuous,  one  meeting  would  vote  to  divide  the 
town  into  religious  societies  and  the  next  one  would  rescind  the  vote,  but 
in  May,  1747,  the  General  Court  incorporated  the  society  of  Andover, 
taking  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town  with  part  of  Coventry  and 
Lebanon,  and  the  society  of  Marlborough  on  the  west  with  part  of  Col- 
chester and  Glastonbury,  and  in  the  Fall  of  1747  it  was  voted  that  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  town  should  be  set  off  as  a  distinct  ecclesiastical 
society.  Application  was  made  to  the  General  Court  in  1746  for  the 
incorporation  of  this  society,  then  popularly  spoken  of  as  the  "Fawn  Hill" 
society.  In  this  application  the  name  asked  for  the  new  society  was 
"Rehoboth".  The  act  passed  in  the  lower  house  bestowing  that  name 
upon  it  but  in  the  senate  this  name  was  changed  to  Gilead  which  is  more 
familiar  to  our  modern  ears.  The  first  meeting  of  the  new  society  was 
held  June  13,  1748.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Morrison  preached  a  short  time,  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Lankton  preached  for  a  year  or  more  but  was  not  settled, 
but  in  1751  a  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  Elijah  Lothrop,  Yale  1749,  who 
was  ordained  pastor  April  1,  1752.  He  died  August  3,  1797.  He  was 
one  of  those  of  whom  it  may  truly  be  said  "there  were  giants  in  those 
days".  For  over  two  years  after  his  death  the  church  was  supplied  by 
various  ministers,  but  in  1799  the  Rev.  Nathan  Gillett  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  and  he  was  in  charge  at  the  end  of  our  first  hundred  years. 

The  Andover  society  had  for  its  first  clergyman  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Lockwood,  D.D.,who  served  them  until  June,  1791,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  Royal  Tyler  who  was  in  charge  at  the  end  of  the  first  hundred 
years. 

The  Marlborough  Society  had  for  its  first  minister  the  Rev.  Elijah 
Mason  until  his  dismissal  in  1761,  succeeded  by  Benjamin  Dunning  from 
1762-1773.  The  Rev.  David  Huntington  succeeded  him  till  1797  and 
after  his  dismissal  the  church  was  without  a  pastor  for  several  years, 
calls  having  been  given  to  several  clergymen  who  declined,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  first  hundred  years  the  church  was  without  a  pastor. 

Again  reverting  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bliss  and  his  friends  who  had  joined 
the  Church  of  England,  the  society  which  was  formed  at  that  ti:ne  was 
known  as  St.  Peter's  Church,  a  building  was  begun  in  1735  upon  land 
deeded  to  the  S.  P.  G.  by  Mr.  Bliss  himself,  but  like  the  meeting  house 
of  the  town  it  was  many  years  before  it  was  thoroughly  finished,  in  fact 
it  was  in  1766  that  it  was  reported  as  finally  completed.  Mr.  Bliss  offi- 
ciated as  lay  reader  for  several  years  and  died  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  England  to  receive  Episcopal  ordination  Feb.  1,  1741.  The  parish 
continued  in  care  of  missionaries  of  the  S.  P.  G.  and  previous  to  1758  three 

48 


candidates  set  sail  for  England  to  receive  holy  orders.  One  was  lost  in 
shipwreck,  one  died  at  sea,  and  one  was  captured  by  the  French,  dying 
in  captivity,  but  in  1758  Samuel  A.  Peters,  Yale  1757,  sailed  to  England, 
was  ordained  and  took  charge  of  the  parish  in  1760.  After  the  accession 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peters  to  the  rectorship,  this  church  seems  to  have  taken 
a  prominent  place  among  those  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Colony. 
The  convention  of  their  clergy  in  Connecticut  was  held  here  June  5  1765. 
Peters  was  a  pronounced  loyalist  and  fied  to  England  in  1774,  leaving 
the  church  without  a  rector.  His  flock  though  not  all  loyalists,  shared  in 
the  unpopularity  of  their  shepherd,  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  that  their 
position  during  the  troublous  times  of  the  war  of  the  revolution  was  not  a 
pleasant  one.  During  this  period  the  Rev.  John  Tyler  of  Norwich  visited  this 
church  a  few  Sundays  ever}^  year,  but  the  Sunday  services  were  carried 
on  by  a  lay  reader,  usually  Mr.  Thomas  Brown,  who  lived  on  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Peters'  farm,  and  a  small  congregation.  This  condition  lasted  until 
1794  when  the  Rev.  Tillotson  Bronson  was  settled  and  remained  until 
1799  when  the  Rev.  Evan  Rogers  took  charge  and  was  there  at  the  end 
of  our  first  hundred  years. 

Returning  again  to  the  situation  of  the  town  about  the  time  that  it 
was  divided  into  religious  societies ;  the  first  meeting  house  was  in  a  ruinous 
condition,  and  there  was  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  location  of  a 
new  one.  But  the  necessity  for  a  new  one  was  emphasized  by  the  burning 
of  the  old.  This  occurred  Oct.  8,  1747  and  was  caused  by  an  incendiary 
hired  for  that  purpose,  a  half  witted  young  man,  who  was  afterwards 
prosecuted  and  committed  to  jail  for  the  crime.  During  the  year  in  which 
the  old  meeting  house  was  burned  there  were  held  ten  society  meetings 
regarding  a  new  one.  It  was  finally  voted  to  build  a  new  house  60  feet 
by  48  feet  and  25  foot  posts,  on  the  place  where  the  old  house  stood.  The 
new  house  was  built  in  1748  and  it  contained  some  timbers  that  were 
already  hewed  for  the  addition  for  the  first  house,  and  saved  from  the  fire. 
Some  of  these  same  timbers  were  afterwards  used  in  building  the  new 
church  in  1828,  the  building  which  many  of  us  remember  as  standing  until 
the  fire  of  1882. 


MILITIA,  ETC. 

In  those  days  every  able  bodied  man  belonged  to  the  militia,  and  the 
organization  was  perfected  immediately  after  the  incorporation  of  the 
town,  giving  an  opportunity  for  many  worthy  men  to  enjoy  at  least  a  brief 
notoriety,  though  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  commanding  officers 
were  generally  men  worthy  of  respect  and  of  the  confidence  reposed  in 
them.  Although  it  is  not  recorded  that  any  disturbance  with  the  Indians 
took  place  within  the  limits  of  the  town,  tradition  says  that  a  block  house 
was  built  near  the  site  of  the  old  brick  school  house  a  mile  and  a  half  south 
of  Hebron  green,  and  that  from  fear  of  the  Indians  in  the  early  times,  the 
inhabitants  repaired  there  nights  for  protection. 

The  town  was  represented  by  soldiers  in  some  of  the  French  and 
Indian  Wars,  and  in  1758  the  larger  part  of  a  company  in  Colonel  Whiting's 
regiment  was  composed  of  Hebron  men  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Edmund  Welles,  and  Amos  Stiles  as  First  Lieutenant,  who  by  the  way, 
died  in  the  service.  Perhaps  this  large  representation  in  this  regiment 
caused  our  ancestors  to  overflow  in  their  expressions  of  loyalty  and 
patriotism  at  the  fall  of  Louisburg,  which  closed  that  campaign.  This 
occasion  which  gave  the  town  the  name  of  "Pump  Town"  I  describe  in 
the  words  of  another  who  described  the  scene  many  years  ago. 

49 


FIRING    OF    THE    PUMP. 

"In  1758  during  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  the  then 
North  American  Colonies,  made  a  noble  effort  (aided  by  an  army  of 
regulars)  to  close  a  war  waged  with  savage  ferocity,  by  the  combined 
forces  of  the  French  and  Indians  in  taking  Louisburg  a  strong  fortress 
and  key  to  the  Gulf  and  River  St.  Lawrence  which  was  gloriously  accom- 
plished by  the  troops,  under  the  command  of  General  Amherst.  The 
glad  tidings  were  wafted  on  eagle  wings  to  every  hamlet  in  the  suffering 
country,  gratitude  warmed  every  heart  and  joy  lightened  up  every 
countenance,  warm  greeting  cheered  every  bosom  and  enormous  pumpkin 
pies  smoked  on  every  board.  It  was  necessary  that  some  demonstration 
of  loyalty  should  be  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  Hebron  to  show  more 
clearly  the  love  of  the  King  and  covmtry  that  entwined  around  their 
hearts,  caps  were  thrown  high  and  a  full  chorus  from  stentorial  lungs 
grandly  echoed  from  the  surrounding  hills.  But  alas,  this  did  not  reach 
the  poles.  The  Sanhedrim  assembled;  after  mtich  deliberation  a  decree 
went  forth  that  a  cannon  should  be  fired.  No  life  destroying  instrument 
of  that  description  had  ever  broken  the  silence  of  this  part  of  the  new 
world.  Yankee  ingenuity  was  placed  on  the  rack,  a  new  article  was  in- 
vented and  would  have  been  patented  forthwith,  had  fashion  led  the  way. 
A  tremendous  oaken  log  was  brought  from  the  forest  and  without  delay 
transformed  into  a  cannon  of  the  calibre  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  pounds. 
To  make  all  sure  and  establish  the  character  of  this  new  species  of  artillery 
a  son  of  vulcan  placed  thereon  massive  hoops  of  iron.  A  three  fold  cord 
is  not  easily  broken.  In  accordance  with  this  truth  a  cordon  of  wood 
hoops  were  driven  over  all  so  that  the  infernal  machine  looked  like  a  mum- 
my dressed  for  the  tomb.  The  v>'ork  was  accomplished,  the  powder  horns 
brought  together  and  emptied  of  their  contents.  The  gun  was  literally 
crammed  and  removed  to  the  summit  of  the  highest  hill,  that  the  thunder 
thereof  might  be  heard  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  torch  was  lighted, 
the  assembled  multitude  stood  afar  off  in  breathless  anxiety,  the  awful 
moment  was  approaching,  the  torch  was  applied  to  the  train,  the  minion 
of  mischief  crept  slowly  toward  the  chamber  of  sleeping  dust  like  the 
serpent  to  the  ear  of  our  Mother  Eve. 

'Lightly  the  brilliant  sparks  from  grain  to  grain, 
Runs  the  quick  fire  along  the  kindling  train. 
On  the  pained  ear  drum  burst  the  sudden  crash. 
Starts  the  red  flame  and  death  pursues  the  flash'." 

In  an  instant  hope  and  fear  together  with  the  object  of  adoration 
were  wafted  to  terra  incognita  in  a  fiery  chariot.  However,  the  fame 
thereof  went  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  was  written  in  the 
Chronicles  of  George  III  who  in  the  plentitude  of  his  goodness,  provided  a 
substitute  made  of  pure  brass  that  his  faithful  subjects  may  ever  after 
sing  praise  to  his  victorious  arms.  This  mark  of  his  Majesty's  favor  was 
lost  in  passing  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

As  fashion  governs  the  tenants  of  this  planet,  in  1775  the  patriotic 
tune  had  turned.  The  inhabitants  again  assembled  and  raised  a  high 
pole,  surmounted  with  the  cap  of  liberty,  which  possessed  the  talismanic 
property  of  turning  the  hearts  of  all  the  people  from  King  to  Congress  and 
they  swore  that  liberty  should  have  an  abiding  place  in  their  dwellings 
forever. 

A  traveler  noticing  their  fiery  zeal,  wrote  the  following  lines  and 
nailed  them  on  the  body  of  the  hberty  pole  on  Godfrey  Hill  near  Esq. 
Phelps'. 

SO 


"I  am  thy  God  cut  from  the  stump, 
You  sing  my  praise  and  fire  your  pump." 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  the  engraving 
upon  the  program  of  to-day's  proceedings  is  a  fac-simile  of  a  post  office 
dating  stamp  made  by  the  late  Lucius  J.  Hendee,  postmaster  of  this  town 
about  sixty  years  ago. 

The  fall  of  Louisburg  occurred,  according  to  a  letter  published  in  the 
Connecticut  Gazette  of  Sept.  9,  1758,  upon  the  27th  of  July  previous  and 
the  news  arrived  in  this  part  of  the  colonies  about  Sept.  1st,  so  that  it 
was  probably  not  far  from  this  part  of  the  year  that  this  notable  firing 
of  the  pump  occurred. 

PLANTING  OF  THE  ELM 

Soon  after  this  occurred  another  great  event,  the  results  of  which  have 
lasted  nearly  to  this  present  day.  I  refer  to  the  planting  of  the  old  elm 
which  most  of  us  remember.  This  elm  was  set  out  by  David  Barber  in 
1763,  then  a  tavern  keeper  on  the  land  now  occupied  by  W.  S.  Hewitt's 
house.  He  was  assisted  by  his  6  year  old  daughter  Patience,  afterward 
the  wife  of  Hon.  Sylvester  Gilbert,  and  the  progenitor  of  a  numerous  and 
honourable  family  and  who  transmitted  the  details  of  the  story  to  her 
descendants. 

THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR  APPROACHING 

This  event  of  course  "cast  its  shadows  before"  for,  many  years  pre- 
vious to  its  actual  occurrence,  two  parties.  Patriots  and  Loyalists,  were 
gradually  crystallizing  themselves  and  marshalling  their  forces  in  oppo- 
sition to  each  other.  It  is  idle  for  us  to  fondly  suppose  that  all  the  best 
families  were  included  in  either  one  of  these  parties,  but  until  the  conflict 
was  fairly  begun  there  was  a  vast  dilTerence  of  opinion  in  regard  to  pro- 
priety of  or  necessity  for  war.  A  reason  why  this  was  emphasized  strongly 
in  this  town  was  the  prominence  of  some  of  the  loyalist  party.  In  the 
forefront  of  these  stood  the  Rev.  Samuel  Peters  who  was  rector  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  a  man  of  not  only  strong  loyalist  principles  but  as  his 
biographer  says  "of  an  iron  will  as  well  as  an  iron  frame,  and  whatever 
he  undertook  he  pursued  with  a  spirit  of  indomitable  perseverance".  His 
troubles  with  his  neighbors  culminated  in  two  attacks  upon  him  by  the 
"Sons  of  Liberty"  August  15th  and  Sept.  6,  1774.  Upon  this  last  occa- 
sion, under  the  threat  of  tar  and  feathers,  from  the  immediate  execution 
of  which,  he  was  rescued  by  Dr.  Pomeroy,  the  Congregational  clergyman, 
and  others  of  the  more  level  headed  people  of  the  community,  he  con- 
cluded that  "discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valor"  and  left  the  country 
for  England,  where  he  remained  a  pensioner  upon  the  King's  bounty 
until  after  peace  was  declared. 

The  battle  of  Lexington  occurred  Wednesday,  April  17,  1775.  On  the 
Sunday  after,  a  warm  and  pleasant  day,  a  large  congregation  was  present 
in  the  old  meeting  house  on  the  green.  In  the  afternoon  a  man  rode  up 
with  great  speed  and  was  received  by  Col.  Hosford.  He  brought  the  news 
of  the  battle  which  was  given  to  the  congregation  by  Dr.  Pomeroy. 
Church  services  were  discontinued  and  orders  were  given  for  the  militia 
to  turn  out.  Everyone  left  for  home,  the  women  riding  on  the  pillions 
behind  their  husbands,  and  many  of  them  in  tears.  When  home,  the 
men  prepared  by  running  bullets  and  the  women  cooked  provisions  for 
the  march.  The  next  morning  a  company  of  about  60  men  started 
commanded  by  Worthy  Waters  as  Captain  and  Roger  Phelps,  Lieutenant.' 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  town's  services  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
but  through  its  entire  duration  the  people  of  this  town  were  not  found 
wanting,  and  furnished  both  men  and  means  in  abundance.     One  regiment 

51 


of  militia  alone,  commanded  by  Col.  Obadiah  Hosford  and  Lieut.  Colonel 
Joel  Jones  contained  not  less  than  125  Hebron  men.  These  were  in  four 
companies,  one  fro  mthe  center  of  the  town  commanded  by  Capt.  Joshua 
Phelps,  the  south  company  commanded  by  Capt.  David  Tarbox,the  Gilead 
company  commanded  by' Capt.  John  H.  Welles,  the  Andover  Company 
commanded  by  Capt.  Eleazer  Hutchinson  and  the  Marlborough  company 
commanded  by  Capt.  David  Miller.  The  number  serving  in  other  com- 
mands, a  complete  list  of  which  I  have  not  had  the  opportunity  to  obtain, 
would  doubtless  swell  the  total  number  of  soldiers  from  this  town  to  several 
hundred.  Indeed  it  might  be  said  that  nearly  every  able  bodied  man  of 
suitable  age  saw  some  service  during  the  war. 

REVOLUTIONARY  WAR  CLOSED 

After  the  close  of  the  war  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  our  people 
was  diverted  into  more  peaceful  channels.  Immediate  improvement  in 
both  morals  and  finances  resulted.  These  improved  conditions  were 
shown  in  the  interest  taken  toward  the  betterment  of  civil  conditions. 
The  county  of  Tolland  was  proposed  in  May,  1785,  and  in  October  of  that 
year  the  county  was  incorporated  embracing  its  present  number  of  towns 
with  the  exception  of  Coventry.  In  May,  1786,  Coventry  was  annexed, 
but  the  town  of  Hebron  made  great  objection  to  being  included  in  the  new 
county.  The  legislature  at  first  voted  to  set  Hebron  back  to  Hartford 
county,  but  the  town  of  Tolland  showed  the  general  assembly  that  it  had 
gone  forward  in  good  faith  and  had  nearly  completed  the  county  buildings 
which  they  had  promised  to  provide  to  the  county  free  of  charge  as  a 
condition  of  the  establishment  of  the  new  county.  The  legislature  there- 
fore reconsidered  their  action  upon  the  memorial  of  the  town  of  Hebron 
and  reaffirmed  the  original  organization  of  the  county,  thus  leaving  Hebron 
in  the  new  county.-  At  this  time,  1786,  Hebron  was  the  wealthiest  town 
in  the  county  and  it  was,  of  course,  very  desirable  that  they  should  be 
retained  as  part  of  the  same.  The  first  judge  of  the  county  court  was 
Samuel  Gilbert  of  Hebron;  the  first  State's  Attorney  was  Sylvester  Gilbert 
of  Hebron,  and  John  Gilbert  of  Hebron  was  Deputy  Sheriff.  During 
those  earlier  days  a  very  large  portion  of  the  county  officers  were  from  this 
town,  a  circumstance  which  may  have  been  a  balm  to  the  wounded  feelings 
of  our  town's  politicians. 

PROBATE   DISTRICT 

Hebron  was  in  the  probate  district  of  Hartford  until  1741,  when  the 
district  of  East  Haddam  was  constituted, to  which  Hebron  was  annexed, 
and  furnished  a  good  share  of  the  Probate  Judges  of  that  district  until 
1789,  when  the  probate  district  of  Hebron  was  constituted.  This  in- 
cluded the  towns  of  Bolton,  Coventry  and  Hebron.  The  first  judge  was 
Samuel  Gilbert  of  Hebron,  and  in  fact  Hebron  furnished  the  judge  for  this 
district  with  the  exception  of  two  years  until  the  present  probate  district 
of  Hebron,  composed  of  this  town  alone  was  incorporated  in  185 1 . 

In  1790  that  part  of  the  town  of  Lebanon  which  was  included  within 
the  religious  society  of  Andover  was  annexed  to  the  town  of  Hebron, 
making  a  small  addition  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  town. 

MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

In  1798  occurred  an  event  of  no  little  interest.  There  was  held  a 
meeting  of  the  General  Association  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  (Congre- 
gational) on  the  19th  of  June  in  Hebron,  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Amos 
Bassett,  then  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  here,  at  which 
were  present  23  clerical  members,  also  3  delegates  of  the  General  Assembly 

52 


of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  At  this  meeting  was  organized  the  Mission- 
ary Society  of  Connecticut.  This  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  missionary 
society  in  the  United  States  which  has  maintained  a  continuous  existence 
to  the  present  time. 

At  the  time  of  taking  the  first  United  States  census,  1756,  Hebron 
had  a  population  of  1855  white  persons  and  no  return  made  of  Indians 
and  blacks.  In  1774,  a  popvilation  of  2,337  of  which  52  were  Indians  and 
blacks.  In  1782,  a  population  of  2,205  of  which  70  were  Indians  and 
blacks.  In  1790,  a  total  population  of  2,234  of  which  20  were  slaves. 
In  1800,  a  population  of  2,256  of  which  4  were  slaves.  At  this  time  it  had 
the  largest  population  of  any  town  in  the  county  except  Stafford.  As  we 
leave  the  town  in  1800,  it  had  a  grand  Ust  of  $69,873.00,  the  largest  of  any 
town  in  Tolland  county,  being  nearly  one-sixth  of  the  total  tax  list  of  the 
county.  There  were  but  18  towns  in  the  state  having  a  larger  tax  list. 
There  were  but  27  post  offices  in  Connecticut,  the  nearest  being  at  Col- 
chester and  Windham.  At  this  time  postage  ranged  from  10  cents  to 
25  cents  per  letter,  according  to  the  distance  carried.  The  chief  judge  of 
the  County  Court  and  the  State's  Attorney  were  both  residents  of  Hebron. 
There  were  3  practicing  attorneys  in  the  town  and  both  the  judge  and  clerk 
of  the  probate  district  resided  in  Hebron.  In  population,  wealth  and 
influence  it  stood  in  the  front  rank  among  the" towns  of  the  state,  a  posi- 
tion which  continued  for  many  years  and  doubtless  will  be  more  fully 
dwelt  upon  by  the  address  which  is  to  follow,  covering  the  history  of  the 
second  hundred  years  of  the  town. 

Following  another  band  selection,  Dr.  Cyrus  H.  Pendleton, 
the  historian  of  the  second  hundred  years  was  introduced. 


S3 


INTRODUCTION  OF  CYRUS  H.  PENDLETON,  M.D. 

HISTORIAN  OF  THE  SECOND  HUNDRED  YEARS. 


There  came  to  Hebron  in  1865 — over  43  years  ago,  a  young 
man  fresh  from  Amherst  College  and  his  studies  in  the  Western 
Reserve  Medical  University  in  Ohio,  who  was  to  become  a  Good 
Samaritan  to  our  people  and  one  of  the  most  successful  practi- 
tioners in  Eastern  Connecticut.  As  a  boy  I  remember  him  riding 
over  the  hills,  just  as  likely  as  not  with  a  Botany  or  Greek  Lexicon 
in  his  hands  and  it  may  truthfully  be  said  that  he  has  been  a 
student  all  his  life.  His  own  personal  comfort  has  always  been 
of  secondary  importance  to  him  when  contrasted  with  the  op- 
portunity to  relieve  suffering  and  to  minister  to  the  afflicted 
in  this  and  neighboring  towns.  For  44  years  he  has  min- 
istered to  the  distressed,  been  present  at  the  bedside  of  the 
afflicted  and  brought  solace  to  the  dying.  He  is  beloved  by  his 
patients  and  esteemed  in  his  community.  There  is  no  one  better 
fitted  to  portray  the  second  100  years  of  Hebron's  history,  a  very 
considerable  part  of  which  he  has  been  so  closely  associated 
with  and  much  of  which  he  has  helped  to  make.  Although  he 
needs  no  introduction  to  this  audience,  it  is  a  privilege  to  me  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  presenting  Dr.  Cyrus  H.  Pendleton  as  the 
historian  of  the  second  100  years  of  this  town's  history. 

HISTORICAL  ADDRESS  OF  CYRUS  H.  PENDLETON. 

Hebron  at  the  opening  of  the  19th  century  contained  a  population, 
according  to  the  census  of  1800,  of  2,256;  was  bounded  by  Bolton  and 
Coventry  on  the  north,  by  Lebanon  and  Colchester  on  the  east,  by  Col- 
chester on  the  south  and  by  Colchester  and  Glastonbury  on  the  west, 
extending  from  Hop  River  on  the  north  and  east  to  near  Marlborough 
pond  on  the  west,  about  ten  miles  from  north  to  south  and  near  seven 
from  east  to  west.  Marlborough,  Columbia  and  Andover  were  not  yet 
incorporated.  There  were  at  the  time  four  Congregational  Ecclesiasti- 
cal societies  wholly  or  partly  within  the  town's  limits,  the  first,  or  Hebron 
Society,  and  Gilead  Society  wholly,  and  the  Marlborough  and  Andover 
Societies  partly,  with  a  church  in  each. 

The  Congregational  Church  in  the  first  society  had  the  Rev.  Amos 
Bassett  as  jjastor,  whose  salary  at  the  time  was  $300  per  annum  raised 
subsequently  to  S3 50.  He  resigned  his  pastorate  in  Sept.,  1824,  after  a 
service  of  30  years,  to  accept  a  call  to  superintend  the  Foreign  Mission 

54 


School  at  Cornwall  in  this  state.  His  successor.  Rev.  Lyman  Strong, 
was  installed  August  17,  1825.  His  salary  was  $400,  and  his  pastorate 
continued  till  his  resignation  in  Feb.,  1830.  He  was  followed  by  Rev. 
Hiram  P.  Arms  at  a  salary  of  $430,  who  was  ordained  and  installed  June 
29,  1830,  and  dismissed  by  Council  Oct.  11,  1832. 

Since  then  the  pastorates  have  been  as  follows : — 
Moses  T.  Harris,  installed  Jan.   29,  1834,  dismissed  Jan.      7,  1835 

Sylvester  Selden,  "  Oct.     6,1835,  "         Mch.     9,1841 

Edward  J.  Doolittle,ordained  May  18,  1842,  "         Dec.    14,1852 

Wm.  M.  Burchard,  suppHedfrom     Mch.         1853,  to        Apr.  1854 

Merrick  Knight,  installed  June  28,  1854,  dismissed  June  18,  1860 

Horace  B.  Woodworth,  installed      Feb.  27,  1862  "  Dec.    20,1864 

James  J.  Bell,  stated  supplv  from     Mch.     1,1865,  to        Mch.     1,1867 

Chas.  H.  Gleason,  ord.  &  installed  Nov.  20,  1867,  dismissed  Apr.  20,  1870 
Aaron  W.Field,stated  supply  from  Nov.     1,1870,  "  Nov.     1,1871 

Salmon  McCall,  supplied  from  Dec.  1871,  to        Spring      1872 

George  S.  Dodge, ord. &  installed  Aug.  14,  1872,  dismissed  Nov.  18,  1877 
Andrew  J.Sullivan        "  "      "     May     8,1878,  "         Jan.    20,1880 

George  B.  Cutler,  "        "        "     June  14,  1882,  "  Apr.      1,1884 

J.LeeNott,  "        "        "     May  18,  1884,  "  Sept.    4,1888 

Geo.  E.  Chapin,  stated  supply  fromMay      1,1889,  to        Dec.    27,1891 

Henry  B.Mason,  ord.  «&:  installed      June  28,  1892,  dismissed  June  1895 

Commencing  with  his  pastorate  the  parishes  of  Hebron  and  Gilead 
were  united  under  one  pastor  residing  in  Gilead  and  holding  services  in 
both  parishes  each  Sunday. 

Wm.  P.  Clancy,  stated  supply  from  Sept.         1896,  to        Apr.      1,1900 

Robert  J.  Kyle,  "        "        "     Apr.     1,  1900,  now  in  charge 

The  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Gilead  society  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century  was  the  Rev.  Nathan  Gillett.  on  a  salary  of 
110;^,  to  be  reduced  to  lOO^T  after  ten  years.  He  was  installed  in  1799, 
resigned  in  1824,  and  was  followed  by  Rev.  Charles  Nichols,  who  was 
ordained  Sept.  22,  1825,  and  dismissed  Oct.  21,  1856. 

Since  that  time  the  pastorate  has  been : — 
William  A. Hallock  ordained  Oct.   24,  1860,  dismissed  Aug.  24,1864 

Daniel  Gibbs,  installed  Sept. 12,  1866,  "  Mch.  27,  1867 

Albert  W.  Clark,  ordained  Nov.  19,  1868,  "         July    23,  1872 

Wm   B.  Danforth,  "  July     9,1874,  died  July      4,1875 

Josiah  A.  Mack,  began  Oct.      1,  1876,  dismissed  Mav      1,1883 

JohnH.Kopf,  "  May     1,1884,  "         July      1,1885 

Charles  Preston,  ordained  Nov.    6,  1886,  "  Sept.  16.  1888 

Rev.  W.  P.  Waters  and  Rev.  H.  R.  Baker,  Avith  others  supplied  till 
the  Rev.  Henry  B.  Mason  in  1892  took  charge  of  both  Hebron  and  Gilead 
parishes  and  since  then  one  pastor  has  had  charge  of  both. 

The  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  Rev. 
Evan  Rogers,  who  was  in  charge  until  1803.  Since  then  the  rectors  have 
been  as  follows,  occasionally  a  period  intervening  without  a  resident 
clergyman  and  with  religious  services  but  a  part  of  the  time  and  conducted 
by  lay  readers: — 

Ammi  Rogers,  1815  1819 

William  Jarvis,  D.  D..  1821  1826 

During  his  rectorship  the  present  church  was  built. 
George  C   Shepard,  1827  1829 

Alpheus  Geer,  1829  1844 

Solomon  G.  Hitchcock.  1846  1849 

55 


Charles  R.  Fisher,  IS 50  Jan.  to  Oct. 

William  Warland,  1851  1865 

Hilliard  Bryant,  1S65  1880 

During  his  rectorship  the  present  rectory  was  built. 
Jared  W.  Ellsworth,  May    1880  Feb.      1889 

Edwin  C.  Johnson,  Sept.  1889  Oct.      1892 

John  Farrar,  Apr.    1893  Apr.      1895 

John  H.  Fitzgerald  became  rector  in  Spring,   1897,  and  now  in  charge. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  societies  had  no  parsonages,  and 
there  was  no  heating  of  the  churches  in  cold  weather.  The  ladies  to  keep 
their  feet  from  freezing  were  in  the  habit  of  using  a  foot  stove,  which  was 
a  small  square  box  of  tin  inside  of  a  wooden  frame  with  a  receptacle 
inside  for  coals.  The  first  mention  I  find  of  any  heating  of  the  churches 
was  a  vote  passed  in  1825  in  the  First  Society  "That  the  Society  are 
willing  to  have  a  stove  in  their  house". 

The  location  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Hebron  Village  was  on 
the  green  nearly  opposite  the  present  dwelling-house  of  Everett  G.  Lord. 
This  continued  to  be  occupied  till  1828,  at  which  time  land  was  deeded  to 
the  society  by  Judge  Sylvester  Gilbert  on  which  to  erect  a  new  church, 
which  was  dedicated  Jan.  1st,  1829  and  the  old  building  was  torn  down. 
In  1806,  the  society  voted  to  borrow  $400  to  loan  to  its  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Amos  Bassett,  to  aid  him  in  erecting  a  dwelling-house,  he  to  repay  the 
society  $100  annually.  The  house  erected  was  the  one  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  H.  Asa  Bissell. 

Early  in  the  century  there  was  a  Methodist  Church  organized,  the 
church  building  standing  on  Burrows  Hill  on  the  east  side  of  the  road,  a 
short  distance  south  and  east  of  the  former  residence  of  Benj.  and  Nathan 
Taylor.  These  facts  are  shown  by  a  deed,  on  record,  from  Daniel  Burrows  to 
Joseph  White,  Ezekiel  Daniels  and  others,  trustees,  of  land  "with  a 
meeting  house  standing  on  it",  dated  March  25,  1805.  The  deed  provided 
that  as  trustees  they  should  "permit  the  ministers  and  preachers  of  the 
Methodist  Church  to  preach  in  and  occupy  and  improve  the  meeting  house 
according  to  the  established  order  and  discipline  of  the  M.  E.  Church". 
This  church  was  probably  in  use  till  1828,  when  a  school  house  was  erected 
in  the  First  School  District,  the  upper  story  of  which  in  consideration  of 
$100  contributed  towards  its  erection  by  the  M.  E.  Church  and  $260  by 
the  town  was  to  be  used  jointly  by  the  church  for  religious  meetings,  and 
by  the  town  as  a  town  hall. 

This  would  seem  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  church  till  1838,  when 
a  church  building  was  erected  at  the  east  end  of  Hebron  Green  and  the 
land  on  which  it  stood  deeded  to  the  trustees  by  Jonathan  G.  Page.  This 
building  was  occupied  as  a  church  till  the  society  broke  up  as  near  as  I 
can  ascertain  about  or  soon  after  1850.  The  church  building  on  Burrows' 
Hill  was  sold  in  1845  to  Samuel  A.  Austin,  taken  down  and  the  material 
used  in  building  the  house  about  a  half  mile  east  of  the  village,  now  the 
residence  of  the  Simon  brothers.  The  church  building  in  the  village  was 
sold  to  the  town  for  a  town  hall  in  1863.  After  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Methodist  Society  the  members  were  divided  between  the  Congregational 
and  Episcopal  Churches  with  some  going  to  Hope  Valley.  The  Hope 
Valley  Methodist  Church,  it  would  appear,  was  organized  about  1849,  as 
March  24  of  that  year  a  conveyance  was  made  of  33  rods  more  or  less  of 
land  with  a  house  of  worship  thereon  by  David  Chapman  to  "Joseph  White, 
William  Gray  and  others,  trustees  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church ' ' ,  stip- 
ulating that  "said  trustees  and  their  successors  shall  in  no  wise  sell  or  permit 
to  be  sold  the  slips  in  said  house  of  worship,  but  shall  guarantee  that  said 
house  shall  ever  be  a  free  house,  that  said  house  shall  be  open  for  the  promul- 

56 


El 


NORTH  SIDE  or  GREEN  BEFORE  EIRE 
or  1882.  OLD  CONGRtGATIO/NAL 
ChURCM     BUILT    1828. 


SOUTM    SIDE    OP    MEBRON   GRE&h  SNOWING. 
DR     DAN    ARMOLDS     HOUSE    AhD    STOREr. 

DRAVv/h     BY      W^.  J.AINNABLE,      ABOUT   18^0. 


T 


gationof  all  the  moral  enterprises  of  the  age  that  have  for  their  object  the 
moral  culture  of  man,  or  the  advancement  of  the  principles  of  universal 
brotherhood  provided  and  it  is  understood  that  this  freedom  of  the  house 
shall  not  conflict  with  the  regular  hours  of  worship  on  the  Christian 
Sabbath".  Of  the  subsequent  history  of  this  church  I  have  been  able  to 
obtain  scarcely  anything  definite.  There  would  now  seem  to  be  in  con- 
nection with  it  no  regular  church  organization,  and  the  trustees  are  now 
all  residents  of  Colchester,  and  services  are  held  in  the  church  just  sufficient 
to  use  up  the  income  of  a  small  fund  bequeathed  by  Samuel  Skinner,  a 
former  resident  of  Hebron,  and  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  on 
the  green. 

To  go  back  to  the  town's  civil  history,  the  first  post  office  in  Hebron 
was  established  in  the  Andover  part  of  the  town  on  the  Hartford  and 
Norwich  post  route,  Jan.  1,  1802,  with  Simon  House  as  postmaster.  In 
June,  1814,  Abner  Hendee  was  assistant  postmaster  of  Hebron,  but  it 
seems  that  a  post  office  was  not  established  in  Hebron  Village  till  1818, 
removed  at  that  time  from  Andover  by  Abner  Hendee,  though  I  am  not 
aware  that  the  office  in  Andover  was  discontinued.  There  was  no  post 
office  in  Gilead  till  1830,  when  Peyton  R.  Gilbert  was  appointed  post- 
master. There  was  a  post  office  established  in  Hope  Valley  in  1833,  and 
m  Turnerville  not  till  1864.  In  1802  the  Hebron  and  Middle  Haddam 
Turnpike  Co.  was  chartered,  the  road  to  extend  from  the  meeting  house 
of  the  First  Society  in  Hebron  to  Middle  Haddam,  and  six  years  later  a 
charter  was  granted  to  the  Columbia  Turnpike  Co.,  the  road  to  extend 
from  the  aforesaid  meeting  house  in  Hebron  to  Windham. 

In  May,  1803,  there  was  a  petition  of  Joel  Foote  and  others,  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Society  of  Marlborough  to  the  General  Assembly  praying  to 
be  mcorporated  into  a  town.  The  town  of  Hebron  not  taking  kindly  to 
losmg  a  part  of  its  territory,  Sylvester  Gilbert  and  John  T.  Peters  were 
appomted  agents  of  the  town  to  oppose  said  petition  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly. The  opposition  was  without  avail  and  the  town  was  incorporated. 
A  ^^  *^^  early  part  of  the  century  cattle  and  swine,  if  not  also  horses 
and  sheep,  were  allowed  to  run  at  large  upon  the  commons  and  in  the 
highways  sometimes,  if  not  generally,  with  the  express  consent  of  the 
town.  For  instance,  in  Nov.,  1808,  it  was  voted  in  town  meeting  that 
swme  be  permitted  to  run  at  large  on  the  commons  "provided  they  be  at 
the  time  well  ringed;"  and  again  in  1821,  "That  neat  cattle  be  allowed  to 
run  at  large  on  the  commons;"  and  also  in  1824,  that  swine  be  permitted 
to  run  at  large  "on  being  well  and  sufficiently  rung".  The  first  record  of 
restraint  I  have  found  was  a  vote  of  the  town  in  1822,  that  horses,  asses, 
mules  and  sheep  be  restrained  from  running  at  large  upon  the  commons. 
Ten  years  later,  in  1832,  it  was  voted  to  restrain  horses,  mules,  neat 
cattle  and  sheep  from  going  at  large  in  the  highways,  except  that  a  person 
having  but  one  cow  might  allow  her  to  go  at  large  in  the  highway.  This 
last  clause  of  the  vote  was  rescinded  about  1844.  In  Oct.,  1845,  in  con- 
nection with  a  vote  of  restraint  of  horses,  asses,  mules,  neat  cattle  and 
sheep  from  running  at  large,  there  was  a  vote  passed  that  any  person 
allowing  any  of  the  above  animals  or  swine  to  run  at  large  on  the  Sabbath 
should  forfeit  $1.00  to  whoever  should  prosecute  the  same  to  effect.  This 
vote  or  bylaw,  it  was  directed  should  be  pubhshed  for  four  weeks  in  the 
Hartford  Times  and  in  the  Hartford  Courant. 

At  this  town  meeting  of  Oct.  6,  1845,  occurred  the  memorable  giving 
way  of  the  upper  floor  of  the  school  house  used  as  a  town  hall,  precipitating 
those  attending  the  meeting  into  the  room  below.  It  caused,  I  imagine, 
quite  an  excitement  at  the  time  and  the  occurrence  is  still  remembered  by 
a  tew  of  our  older  inhabitants;  but  no  one  was  seriously  injured,  so  far  as 

57 


I  have  learned.  The  meeting  was  then  adjourned  to  the  Congregational 
meeting  house  steps.  On  the  20th  of  the  month,  1845,  the  town  voted 
(meeting  on  the  Congregational  meeting  house  steps)  to  give  up  the  town 
hall  to  the  school  district  on  condition  that  the  district  take  it  as  it  is, 
and  do  not  call  upon  the  town  for  damages  or  repairs;  at  the  same  time 
it  was  voted  to  accept  the  ofTer  of  the  M.  E.  Society  to  furnish  a  room  in 
the  basement  of  their  church  at  the  rate  of  $20  per  annum  provided  the 
society  should  furnish  to  the  acceptance  of  the  selectmen  a  place  for 
^loderator,  Selectmen  and  Town  Clerk,   and   also  for  all  town  business. 

The  war  of  1812  appears  to  have  made  no  especial  impression  upon 
the  town's  history,  so  far  as  anything  appears  upon  record;  further 
than  that  in  1838,  there  was  money  refunded  to  the  town  for  expenses  in 
the  "late  war",  but  how  much  was  not  stated.  It  was  voted  to  use  it  to 
pay  town  expenses. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  the  13th  of  April,  1818,  it  was  resolved  "That 
whereas,  in  a  Republican  Government  a  written  constitution  declaring 
and  defining  the  powers  and  prerogatives  of  the  rulers,  and  securing  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  people  is  necessary  to  the  security  of  freedom, 
and  whereas,  the  State  of  Connecticut  has  no  written  constitution,  of 
Civil  Government,  therefore  resolved,  that  the  representatives  of  this 
town  to  the  next  General  Assembly  to  be  holden  in  Hartford  in  May  next, 
be  instructed  to  give  their  support  to  measures  preparatory  to  the  forming 
a  written  constitution  for  the  Government  of  the  people  of  this  state,  and 
resolved,  that  said  representatives  be  furnished  by  the  town  clerk  with 
copies  of  these  resolves  immediately  on  their  election".  When  it  came 
to  voting  upon  the  ratification  of  the  constitution  the  vote  stood  164  in 
favor,  and  80  in  opposition.  The  reasons  for  their  so  voting  do  not 
appear. 

In  Feb.,  1821,  there  was  a  vote  of  the  town  to  consent  to  become  a 
part  of  a  new  county  upon  the  application,  bearing  date  the  first  day  of 
Nov.,  1820,  of  the  town  of  Colchester,  upon  the  express  condition  that  the 
town  was  to  be  to  no  expense  in  connection  with  it.  Colchester  was 
probably  ambitious  to  become  a  county  seat. 

The  old  pound  west  of  the  gristmill  on  the  road  to  Marlborough  was 
established  in  1821,  and  the  selectmen  were  directed  to  build  it  of  stone  and 
lay  the  foundation  below  the  frost.  This  pound  within  a  comparatively 
few  j^ears,  has  gone  out  of  use.  In  1823,  the  town  voted  to  discontinue 
the  road  from  south  of  the  old  cemetery  on  Godfrey  Hill  leading  east  to 
the  road  to  Andover  at  a  point  a  short  distance  south  of  the  Cyrus  Mann 
house.  In  1830,  an  effort  was  made  to  have  the  town  meetings  held  half 
the  time  in  Gilead  and  Andover,  but  the  proposition  as  the  record  has  it, 
"After  a  full  discussion  was  negatived  by  a  great  majority".  At  a  meeting 
of  the  town  in  Oct.,  1831,  the  matter  of  crows  was  considered;  and  fol- 
lowing a  quite  lengthy  statement  of  the  damage  done  to  crops,  etc.,  by 
crows,  a  bounty  was  voted  of  6  cents  for  each  old  and  3  cents  for  each 
young  crow  killed  in  the  town,  but  was  abolished  two  years  later. 

In  1835  it  wotdd  seem  that  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Superior 
Court  for  the  County  of  Tolland  reported  in  favor  of  laying  out  a  road 
from  Colchester  through  Hebron  to  Tolland.  The  acceptance  of  this 
report  the  town,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Aug.  of  that  year,  voted  to  remon- 
strate against.  The  town  probably  shrank  from  the  expense  of  building 
the  Hebron  portion  of  it.  In  Sept.,  1837,  there  was  a  vote  of  the  town 
to  approve  of  the  petition  of  Samuel  Skinner  and  others  to  the  County 
Coiirt  of  the  County  of  Tolland  for  the  discontinuance  of  the  new  road 
lately  laid  out  by  a  committee  of  said  Court  from  Hebron  to  Colchester 
(probably  a  part  of  the  road  above  mentioned)  and  Samuel  Skinner  was 

58 


appointed  the  town's  agent  to  manage  the  case.  A  year  later  the  oppo- 
sition would  seem  to  have  subsided,  or  at  least,  proved  unsuccessful,  as 
in  Aug.,  1838,  the  town  voted  to  accept  the  report  of  the  selectmen  laying 
out  a  road  from  David  T.  Carver's  by  the  Furnace  to  the  Colchester  line, 
said  report  following  the  layout  of  the  County  Committee.  This  road  was 
not  actually  opened  till  toward  two  years  later,  as  appears  from  the  town 
vote  in  March,  1840,directing  the  selectmen  to  farm  out  to  the  lowest  bidder 
the  Furnace  road  to  the  Colchester  line;  and  that  it  be  repaired  and  made 
in  proper  manner  for  public  travel  and  that  it  be  done  forthwith  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  selectmen. 

Up  to  1836,  the  road  leading  from  the  Hebron  and  Middle  Haddam 
Turnpike  to  Burrows  Hill  passed  directly  over  the  hill  south  of  the 
present  residence  of  Loren  A.  Waldo,  about  which  time  the  layout  of  the 
road  was  changed  to  lead  around  the  hill  on  the  east,  and  the  hill  avoided. 
The  new  route  was  through  land  of  Aaron  Phelps  for  which  he  was  awarded 
$92  damage. 

In  Nov.,  1841,  a  report  of  the  selectmen  was  accepted,  laying  out  a 
road  through  land  of  Stephen  B.  Fuller  and  of  David  Strong,  with  dam- 
ages allowed  to  Fuller  of  $146  and  to  Strong  of  $52.  This  is  the  road 
leading  south  from  the  road  to  Columbia,  a  few  rods  east  of  where  Fitch  N. 
Jones  is  now  living,  and  terminating  a  short  distance  north  of  the  bridge 
near  George  C.  Tennant's. 

In  1842,  it  was  voted  to  discontinue  the  old  road  from  the  old  Col- 
chester road  at  a  point  a  little  south  of  the  residence  of  the  late  William  T. 
Jones  to  the  road  from  Hope  Valley  to  Grayville,  or  as  the  record  reads, 
"to  the  lower  mill".  In  1847,  there  was  a  vote  to  discontinue  the  road 
leading  east  from  near  the  Tenth  District  School  House,  with  the  proviso 
that  the  owners  of  land  on  the  road  might  keep  it  open  for  a  private  way 
if  they  saw  fit;  also  the  road  leading  east  from  Hazael  Gott's,  Sr.,toAsa 
Strong's.  There  were  votes  also  passed  between  1840  and  1850  to  dis- 
continue some  other  roads  that  were  nevertheless  still  kept  open.  These 
roads  were  the  so  called  "Cone  Road"  leading  north  from  the  Burnt  Hill 
road  to  the  south  line  of  Zenas  Chappel,  vote  passed  Nov.,  1S40;  the  road 
leading  east  from  about  20  rods  south  of  Burnham's  Corners  to  the  Colum- 
bia line,  vote  passed  in  1846;  and  the  road  leading  south  from  near  the 
dwelling  house  of  Hazael  Gott,  Sr.,to  the  Colchester  line.  Leaving  the 
subject  of  highways  for  the  present,  in  Feb.,  1837,  the  town  voted  to 
receive  its  share  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Town  Deposit  Fund.  The 
income  of  this  fund  was  at  first  used  wholly  for  the  support  of  schools, 
but  only  for  a  few  years,  when  one-half  was  used  for  current  town  expenses, 
and  continued  to  be  so  used  as  long  as  the  laws  of  the  state  permitted ;  and 
it  was  distributed,  for  a  time,  at  least,  in  equal  amounts  to  the  several 
school  districcs.  The  fund  was  mostly  loaned  to  individuals,  and  secured 
by  mortgage  of  real  estate,  and  it  is  within  a  comparatively  few  years  that 
it  has  become  wholly  invested  in  town  orders.  The  amount  received  was 
$4,974.88. 

The  first  action  I  find  taken  by  the  town  regarding  the  sale  of  intoxi- 
cants was  in  January,  1840,  a  vote  "That  all  persons  within  the  town  of 
Hebron  have  liberty  to  sell  wines  and  spirituous  liquors  in  said  town  for 
the  year  ensuing".  In  January,  1841,  it  was  voted  "That  no  person  in 
the  town  of  Hebron  have  a  license  to  sell  wines  and  spirituous  liquors  in 
this  town  during  the  year  1841  except  licensed  physicians,  and  they  are 
to  sell  for  no  other  purpose  than  medicinal".  This  vote  was  rescinded 
during  the  same  month,  and  the  following  substituted  for  it  "That  the 
legal  voters  of  Hebron  have  liberty  to  sell  in  any  quantity  not  less  than 
1-8  gallon,  and  not  to  be  drank  on  their  premises,  except  taverners  who  may 

59 


sell  by  the  glass",  voting  in  the  affirmative  84,  negative  64.  I  find  no 
subsequent  vote  relating  to  sale  of  intoxicants,  except  that  since  the  sub- 
stitution of  local  option  for  the  so  called  Maine  law  the  town  has  almost, 
if  not  quite,  always  voted  no  license. 

During  the  last  few  years,  at  least,  of  the  Maine  law,  every  one  seems 
to  have  sold  intoxicants  in  the  town  who  felt  disposed,  with  no  notice 
being  taken  of  it. 

In  1846,  the  town  entered  upon  the  repair  of  its  highways  and  bridges 
by  contract  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder,  which  method  of  repair  was 
continued  for  quite  a  number  of  years.  Previously  the  highways  were 
kept  in  repair  by  districts,  a  highway  surveyor  being  appointed  for  each 
district  to  supervise  the  work  and  collect  the  highway  tax  of  such  as  failed 
to  pay  it  in  labor,  of  which  all  taxpayers  had  the  privilege  at  a  certain 
rate  per  day  for  able-bodied  men,  and  for  teams.  The  rate  per  day  was 
changed  from  time  to  time  to  conform  to  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages.  In 
1808,  the  rate  was  four  shillings  (66§  cents)  in  the  spring,  and  three  shillings 
(50  cents)  in  the  fall;  and  at  no  time  up  to  the  adoption  of  the  contract 
system  was  the  rate  per  day  more  than  one  dollar  for  a  day  of  ten  hours. 
In  1865  ,the  district  system  was  adopted  again  and  the  rate  per  day  for  able- 
bodied  men  was  made  $1.50.  The  road,  leading  from  the  road  from  Hebron 
village  to  Gilead,  to  the  road  to  Marlborough  near  Mr.  H.  F.  Porter's 
grist  mill,  it  would  seem,  was  projected  in  1855,  as  appears  by  a  vote  of 
the  town  to  oppose  the  lay  out  of  it  before  the  county  commissioners. 

May  24,  1847,  it  was  voted  by  the  town  unanimously,  as  the  record 
has  it,  to  oppose  the  petition  of  Eliphalet  Hendee  and  others  of  Andover 
society  praying  the  General  Assembly  to  incorporate  the  society  into  a 
town;  and  at  another  meeting,  April  24th  of  the  year  following  similar 
action  was  again  taken,  and  it  was  further  voted  "That  the  town  will  not 
consent  to  be  deprived  of  sending  two  representatives  to  the  General 
Assembly",  and  at  the  same  time  the  town  requested  the  senator  from 
the  district,  and  instructed  the  Hebron  representatives  to  use  all  proper 
means  to  "carry"  the  votes  of  the  town  in  the  matter  into  effect.  The 
opposition  was  unavailing  except  that  we  retained  our  two  representatives. 

April  4,  1849,  the  town  clerk,  for  the  better  preservation  of  the  town 
records,  was  directed  to  examine,  and  if  he  found  any  "from  age,  mutila- 
tion or  other  cause  in  danger  of  being  lost,  to  take  means  to  effectively 
preserve  them,  either  by  copying  or  binding,  or  both". 

At  the  annual  town  meeting  held  Oct.  1,  1849,  the  Treasurer  of  the 
Town  Deposit  Fund  reported  as  follows,  "Not  a  cent  has  been  lost,  or 
paid  to  the  agent,  or  treasurer  of  the  Town  Deposit  Fund  for  their  ser- 
vices for  twelve  years"  and  there  was  a  refusal  to  serve  longer  without 
compensation,  whereupon  it  was  voted  that  the  treasurer  receive  $10 
annually  for  his  services. 

In  Dec,  1849,  the  town  instructed  its  assessors  to  "examine  person- 
ally the  property  liable  to  taxation  and  to  assess  the  same  according  to 
its  true  value  in  their  opinion  without  regard  to  any  former  valuation"; 
and  it  was  voted  that  the  assessors  be  allowed  $1.00  per  day  for  "time 
actually  devoted  to  their  official  duties".  With  regard  to  town  officers  in 
general,  by  a  vote  passed  in  1855,  they  were  requested  "to  transact  the 
ordinary  town  business  without  charge". 

In  1851,  the  General  Assembly  was  petitioned  by  vote  of  the  town 
to  constitute  the  town  of  Hebron  a  probate  district  by  the  name  of  the 
Probate  District  of  Hebron  with  authority  to  retain  the  custody  and 
possession  of  all  the  records  and  files  of  the  then  present  Probate  District 
of  Hebron.  As  a  result  Hebron  was  made  a  separate  probate  district,  but 
failed  to  retain  the  records  and  files  asked  for.     At  the  same  time  liberty 

60 


was  asked  of  the  legislature  to  loan  the  credit  of  the  town  to  the  New- 
York  and  Boston  R.  R.  Co.  for  an  amount  not  to  exceed  $10,000,  but  it 
does  not  appear  the  request  was  granted. 

When  the  management  of  schools  by  school  societies  was  abandoned 
and  a  Isoard  of  school  visitors  was  elected  for  the  oversight  of  schools, 
there  was  a  vote  of  the  town  Oct  6,  1856,  that  the  board  should  consist 
of  nine  members,  six  to  be  from  the  old  society,  Hebron,  and  three  from 
Gilead.  The  members  of  the  board  as  then  elected,  were  Rev.  William 
Warland,  Rev.  Merrick  Knight,  Rev.  James  Dixon,  Orrin  C.  White  and 
Flavel  Jones  from  Hebron,  and  Solomon  Norton,  Thomas  L.  Brown  and 
John  W.  Buell  from  Gilead. 

In  1859,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  purchase  the  M.  E,  Church 
building  with  the  land  on  which  it  was  standing  and  the  appurtenances 
thereto,  and  to  pay  for  it  the  sum  of  $650,  but  possession  by  deed  was  not 
secured  till  1863. 

The  taxes  of  the  town  previous  to  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  would 
appear  not  to  have  exceeded  about  four  and  one-half  mills  on  the  dollar. 
In  1861 ,  the  year  of  the  commencement  of  the  war  the  tax  voted  by  the  town 
was  three  mills  for  town  expenses  and  one  and  one-fourth  mills  for  repair  of 
highways  and  bridges,  since  which  time  in  consequence  of  the  town's  in- 
debtedness, taxes  for  the  support  of  schools,  higher  prices  to  be  paid  for 
labor  and  for  services  of  town  officers,  together  Avith  a  material  decrease  in 
the  amount  of  taxable  property,  the  rate  of  taxation  has  increased  to  a 
yearly  tax  of  about  seventeen  mills. 

While  previous  wars  influenced  the  town's  history  hardly  at  all,  it 
was  quite  otherwise  with  that  of  the  Rebellion  commencing  in  1861.  The 
first  record  relating  especially  to  this  war  was  a  vote  of  the  town  passed 
Aug.  29,  1862,  giving  a  bounty  of  $100  to  each  vokinteer  of  Hebron  who 
had  enlisted  or  should  enlist  on  or  before  the  15th,  be  enrolled  and  mus- 
tered into  the  service.  The  same  year  and  month  also  a  bounty  of  $250 
was  voted  to  each  volunteer  to  fill  the  town's  quota,  and  again  $300  was 
voted  to  each  person  drafted  and  mustered  into  the  service,  or  to  enable 
him  to  procure  a  substitute;  and  the  selectmen  were  directed  to  borrow 
money  for  the  purpose  on  town  orders.  Feb.  13,  1864,  the  town  voted 
that  the  selectmen  be  authorized  to  procure  a  sufficient  number  of  men 
to  fill  the  town's  quota  under  a  call  of  the  President  for  200,000  men;  and 
in  July  of  the  same  year  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  superin- 
tend filling  the  quota  of  Hebron  under  a  call  of  the  President  for  500,000, 
and  the  selectmen,  the  town  clerk  and  the  town  treasurer  were  made  that 
committee. 

To  pay  the  war  expenses  of  the  town,  according  to  a  vote  passed  Jan. 
IS,  1864,  bonds  were  issued  of  $100  each,  not  to  exceed  $3,785,  payable 
in  ten  and  fifteen  years,  and  again  in  Aug.,  1864,  bonds  were  authorized 
to  be  issued  sufficient  to  pay  all  expenses  under  the  call  of  the  President 
for  500,000  men  to  be  payable  in  twenty  years,  or  after  six  years  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  town. 

Previous  to  this  war  the  town  seems  to  have  had  no  permanent  debt. 

The  names  of  volunteers  from  Hebron  as  near  as  I  can  ascertain,  are 
as  follows:  Edwin  C.  Bailey,  George  M.  Barber,  Willis  Bartholomew, 
Charles  N.  Bissell,  Warren  H.  Bissell,  George  Bliss,  John  F.  Bhss,  Loren 
Bradford,  Joseph  Backus,  William  Brown,  Charles  G.  Burnham,  Lyman 
Coats,  George  Gillett,  Nathan  Gillett,  Sylvester  G.  Gilbert,  Andrew  J 
Hanks,  Alfred  P.  Hanks,  George  Hanna,  William  H.  Hanna,  John  A 
Holmes,  Lucius  H.  Jagger,  Alfred  E.  Leonard,  John  Loomis,  Harvej^  N 
Johnson,  Edwin  Loveland,  Alfred  Miner,  Charles  G.  Miner,  Henry  B 
Porter,   Erastus   Mitchell,   Calvin  Strickland,   Alonzo  Taylor,  James  J 

61 


Taylor,  Samuel  N.  Stevens,  Francis  H.  Thompson,  James  H.  Thompson, 
James  Tefft,  Adelbert  F.  Tefft,  Loren  A.  Waldo,  Walter  E.  Wright. 

In  1864  a  movement  was  started  towards  transforming  Hebron  Green 
into  a  park,  and  a  vote  was  passed  in  Nov.  of  that  year  to  allow  citizens 
of  Hebron  to  form  themselves  into  a  company  for  grading  it.  The  grading 
was  largely  done  by,  and  under  the  oversight  of,  E.  P.  Buell,  and  a  fence 
erected  about  it.  In  1887  there  was  a  vote  to  discontinue  the  road  pre- 
viouslv  leading  through  the  center  of  the  Green,  and  also  a  vote  to  allow 
an  association  to  be  formed  to  take  charge  of  the  Park  and  have  the  use 
of  it  so  long  as  it  should  maintain  a  fence  about  it  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
selectmen.  The  association  however  seems  not  to  have  been  formed, 
and  the  old  fence  about  it  getting  wofuUy  out  of  repair,  was  on  the  night 
of  Saturday,  Aug.  4,  1888,  torn  down  by  the  boys  of  the  village,  and  piled 
up  in  different  places,  at  the  instigation  of  some  of  our  young  ladies  whose 
sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  was  offended.  Since  then  the  Park  has  re- 
mained unfenced  as  at  present. 

The  railroad  indebtedness  of  the  town  was  a  result  of  a  vote  of  March 
3,  1869,  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $28,000  in  aid  of  the  New  Haven, 
Middletown  and  Willimantic  Railroad  Co.  This  vote  was  passed  with 
a  good  deal  of  opposition,  and  would  perhaps  have  failed  of  passing,  but 
for  the  agreement  of  P.  W.  Turner  to  guarantee  to  the  town  one-sixth  of 
the  amount. 

To  secure  the  town,  it  was  to  receive  second  mortgage  bonds  of  the 
road,  but  the  town,  for  the  sake  of  aiding  the  company  to  complete  the 
road  in  May,  1871,  agreed  to  relinquish  these  and  to  receive  therefor  as 
many  shares  of  the  fully  paid  stock  of  the  company  as  at  par  would  equal 
the  bonds  relinquished. 

In  order  to  raise  funds  from  the  sale  of  the  company's  second  mort- 
gage bonds  the  town  was  asked  to  guarantee,  and  at  a  meeting  of  Nov.  30, 
1871,  it  voted  to  guarantee,  such  bonds  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of 
$28,000,  in  conformity  with  similar  action  by  other  towns.  By  those 
opposed  to  the  town's  action,  an  injunction  was  obtained  in  1872, restrain- 
ing the  selectmen  and  the  town's  treasurer  from  effecting  the  guarantee 
voted.  The  courts  finally  decided  that  the  meeting  at  which  the  vote  was 
passed  was  illegal  on  account  of  the  warning  not  having  been  posted  a 
sufficient  length  of  time,  and  that  the  vote  to  guarantee  was  void. 

In  1876,  it  was  voted  to  discard  the  old  Hebron  hearse,  looked  upon  as 
having  outlived  its  usefulness,  and  purchase  a  new  one  to  be  used  for  both 
Hebron  and  Gilead  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $250.  Subsequently,  the  select- 
men were  empowered  to  pay  as  high  as  $300,  and  again  as  high  as  $400. 
This  is  the  hearse  now  in  use. 

April  17,  1882,  a  fire  broke  out  upon  the  roof  of  a  building,  the  lower 
story  of  which  was  occupied  by  Lucien  H.  Leonard  as  a  store,  his  family 
residing  in  the  story  above.  The  fire  started  from  sparks  from  the 
chimney.  This  building,  known  as  the  Hendee  Store,  stood  just  west  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  and  with  it  was  burned,  the  church  and  four 
other  buildings  on  the  north  side  of  the  Green,  and  the  schoolhouse  and 
two  other  buildings  on  the  south  side.  The  church  and  schoolhouse  were 
rebuilt  the  same  year,  and  two  of  the  dwellings  soon  after. 

In  1878,  the  Seventh  School  District  was  discontinued  by  action  of  the 
town  and  made  a  part  of  the  Fifth,  and  in  1882,  the  line  between  the  First 
and  Fourth  Districts  so  changed  as  to  take  into  the  First  all  the  territory 
north  and  west  of  the  location  of  the  school  building  in  the  Fourth,  and  a 
new  house  was  erected  for  the  latter  district  in  Turnerville,  a  little  north 
of  the  railroad  crossing.  About  1887,  was  the  commencement  of  the  con- 
troversy with  P.  W.  Turner  with  regard  to  North  Pond.     He  had  either 

62 


bought  or  leased  all  the  land  bordering  the  pond,  claimed  to  own  the  pond 
and  forbid  all  fishing  in  it  except  with  his  special  permission.  As  the 
people  of  the  community  had  from  time  immemorial  had  free  access  to  it 
for  fishing  and  recreation,  there  was  aroused  a  natural  feeling  of  resent- 
ment, and  there  was  a  general  refusal  to  admit  his  claims. 

To  enable  parties  to  reach  the  pond  without  trespassing,  the  town 
voted  to  lay  out  a  road  to  it,  which  he  naturally  opposed,  as  owning  the 
land  through  which  it  passed  and  claiming  to  own  the  pond,  to  which  it 
was  to  give  access.  This  lead  to  a  legal  investigation  of  ownership  and 
control,  and  the  decision  of  the  Superior  Court  being  in  favor  of  the  town, 
the  case  was  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court.  This  reversed  the  decision 
of  the  lower  court  and  decided  the  case  against  the  town,  leaving  a  feeling 
on  the  part  of  some  at  least,  that  if  according  to  law  it  was  hardly  accord- 
ing to  equity. 

In  1888,  an  association  was  organized  under  the  name  of  The  Hebron 
Literary  Society,  a  constitution  adopted  and  by-laws  enacted  having  for 
its  object  the  creating  and  maintaining  a  library  The  commencement 
of  the  library  was  with  about  200  volumes.  In  June,  1889,  the  society 
voted  to  transfer  its  property  to,  and  associate  its  members  with,  the 
so-caUed  Hebron  Library  Association,  incorporated  by  an  act  of  the 
legislature  at  the  Jan.  session  of  that  year.  The  library  was  kept  at  Dr. 
C.  H.  Pendleton's  till  a  library  building  was  erected  in  1898,  on  land  given 
to  the  association  by  Mr.  Eben  B.  Page  of  Boston,  a  son  of  the  late 
Jonathan  G.  Page.  At  first  and  till  1899,  the  privileges  of  the  library  were 
in  consideration  of  an  annual  fee  of  one  dollar,  in  which  year  in  consider- 
ation of  an  annual  appropriation  by  the  town  of  $50,  and  to  conform  to 
the  conditions  of  a  legacy  of  $500  by  the  last  will  and  testamxcnt  of  Ben- 
jamin A.  Bissell,  the  library  was  made  free  to  all  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

At  Lhe  opening  of  the  century  the  business,  as  at  present,  was  chieflv 
agriculture  with  such  mechanical  and  manufacturing  industries  as  would 
meet  the  wants  of  the  surrounding  population,  but  with  more  or  less  of  a 
surplus  for  more  distant  markets,  carried  on  largely  by  private  enterprise. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  of  the  town's  history,  the 
manufacture  of  shears  was  carried  on  by  Obadiah  White  on  Burrows  Hill, 
and  subsequently  that  of  axes  by  Joseph  White,  Sr.  and  Jr. 

On  the  old  road  to  Colchester  near  the  now  railroad  crossing,  wooden 
rakes  were  manufactured  by  Ephraim  Wilcox  and  his  son  down  to  1850  or 
later.  In  the  northwest  part  of  the  town  was  the  woolen  mill  of  Henrv  P. 
Sumner  on  Blackledge  River,  burned  in  1830.  Subsequently  near  the  sit? 
of  the  woolen  mill  a  paper  mill  was  erected  and  the  manufacture  of  paper 
carried  on  by  Dr.  Charles  F.  Sumner  of  Bolton,  until  a  few  years  ago  the 
mill  was  burned  without  insurance  and  never  rebuilt. 

In  1814,  The  Hebron  Manufacturing  Company  was  incorporated  for 
carrying  on  business  on  the  stream  running  south  from  Hope  Valle3^  a 
short  distance  west  from  what  is  now  called  "The  Gull,"  or  sometimes, 
Grayville.  This  at  first,  it  would  appear,  was  a  cotton  mill,  as  in  a  deed 
from  Daniel  Burrows  to  Daniel  Kellogg,  Treas.,  the  land  is  described  as 
"with  a  cotton  mill  standing  on  it".  Afterwards  bit-stocks  were  here 
manufactured  not  far  from  the  middle  of  the  century,  till  the  plant  was 
finally  burned. 

In  1815  was  incorporated  The  Washington  Manufacturing  Company 
for  the  manufacture  of  cloths  and  other  fabrics  of  cotton.  The  mill  was 
located  on  the  stream  from  North  Pond,  nearly  half  a  mile  east  of  the 
mill  of  The  Hebron  Manufacturing  Company,  or  as  it  was  subsequently 
called  The  Joint  Stock  Co.  This  finally  passed  into  the  ownership  of 
Wilham  Gray  and  was  operated  by  him  till  about  1850  or  later.     The  mill 

63 


is  still  standing  but  during  the  last  50  years  has  been  operated  only  at 
intervals.  A  litcle  further  north  on  the  same  stream  a  paper  mill  was 
operated  as  early  as  1819,  as  shown  by  a  lease  of  land  with  paper  mill 
from  Daniel  Burrows  to  Daniel  Burrows,  Jr.  It  was  finally  changed  to  a 
cotton  mill,  but  for  many  years  it  has  been  but  little  operated. 

In  Hope  Valley  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  there  were  two  fac- 
tories, one  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  leading  south,  originally  for  the 
mani-ifacture  of  woolen  goods;  afterwards  it  was  occupied  by  Samuel 
Norton  and  by  Charles  H.  Douglas  for  the  manufacture  of  bit-stocks,  and 
again  as  a  cotton  mill  by  Daniel  I.  Norton,  till  in  1876,  it  was  burned 
down.  A  short  distance  below  on  the  same  stream  was  another  cotton 
mill.  This  property  in  1834,  was  deeded  to  Gardner  Barber,  and  the  mill 
operated  by  him  till  probably  near  the  middle  of  the  century.  This  mill 
was  also  burned  after  standing  idle  for  a  number  of  years. 

In  Sept.,  1835,  land  described  as  with  a  blastfurnace  standing  on  it 
was  deeded  by  Buell  and  Amos  Crouch  to  Jared  and  Samuel  Lewis  of 
Colchester.  This  was  located  in  what  is  now  Turnerville,  near  the  silk- 
mill  dyehouse,  and  the  business  of  reducing  iron  from  the  ore  and  manu- 
facturing products  of  iron  was  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years,  but  was 
hardly  a  financial  success.  The  ore  used  was  bog-iron  obtained  in  and 
carted  from  an  ore  bed  in  Colchester  near  what  has  been  known  as  Union- 
ville.  This  property  was  purchased  in  1853  by  Phineas  W.  Turner,  on 
which  he  erected  mills  and  carried  on  silk  manufacturing  until  his  death  in 
1903,  and  after  his  death  by  his  son  till  early  in  the  present  year.  At 
present  the  property  is  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee  as  an  insolvent  estate. 
For  several  years  prior  to  the  appointment  of  the  trustee  the  business  was 
carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  P.  W.  Turner  &  Co. 

In  1816,  John  Graves  from  Stonington,  bought  real  estate  in  Hebron, 
built  the  house  where  Dr.  Pendleton  is  now  living,  and  carried  on  for  many 
years  the  manufacture  of  furniture. 

In  1832,  Ezra  L.  Backus  bought  the  place  now  occupied  by  Loren  M. 
Lord  and  for  quite  a  number  of  years  carried  on  the  business  of  tanning. 

In  1835,  Oliver  Welles,  bought  the  place  now  in  the  possession  of 
Benjamin  DingAvell  and  for  25  years  or  more  manufactured  wagons  and 
heavy  wheels.  He  took  pride  in  his  work  and  strove  for  durability  if  not 
beauty. 

There  was  a  papermill,  operated  from  the  early  part  of  the  century 
till  after  1 860,  located  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  on  the  road  leading  south 
from  the  road  from  Hebron  to  Marlborough,  at  an  early  period,  by 
Socrates  Tarbox,  and  in  the  later  period  of  its  history  by  James  White, 
Elihu  P.  Buell,  Jared  Manley  and  Wm.  P.  Cook.  The  business  gradually 
declined,  the  mill  was  finally  burned  and  the  location  is  now  a  well  nigh 
abandoned  section  of  the  town  .  Early  in  the  century  it  is  said  there  was 
a  fulling  mill  on  the  west  side  of  the  highway,  a  little  south  of  the  so-called 
Collins  Bridge.  The  mill  has  been  standing  within  the  memory  of  those 
now  about  70  years  old,  but  has  not  been  operated,  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
within  the  memory  of  any  now  living. 

The  historic  elm  on  the  Green  planted  in  1763,  standing  between  the 
Charles  Post  place  and  W.  S.  Hewitt's  was  cut  down  in  1904,  as  owing  to 
the  decay  of  age  it  was  regarded  as  unsafe,  (though,  to  my  mind,  it  might 
otherwise  have  stood  perhaps  50  years  longer),  and  a  young  elm  planted 
in  its  place  with  exercises  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  in  part  commemor- 
ative of  the  old  tree. 

Among  the  leading  citizens  of  the  town  during  the  19th  century  were 
the  Hon.  Sylvester  Gilbert  who  is  said  to  have  represented  the  town  in 
the  legislature  30  or  more  years  consecutively,  and  a  member  of  Congress- 

64 


*J,^  ^ 


SOUTM  VIEW  f-QOn  MEBROri  GREEM 
fVom    Painting  by  ReubepRowley,  1830. 


House  of  Representatives,  in  1818  and  1819.  It  was  largely  through  his 
influence,  it  is  claimed,  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  Connecticut's 
Western  Reserve  lands  were  constituted  the  Connecticut  Common  School 
Fund. 

Another  prominent  citizen  and  native  of  Hebron  was  Dr.  John  S. 
Peters,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  the  town's  leading  physician.  He 
was  for  many  years  town  clerk,  was  prominent  in  town  affairs  and  always 
manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  town's  welfare.  He  was  Lieutenant. 
Governor  of  the  State  from  1827  to  1831  and  Governor  from  1831  to  1833- 

One  of  our  most  noted  men  in  some  respects,  but  not  a  native  of 
Hebron,  but  for  some  years  a  resident,  was  Lorenzo  Dow,  a  very  eccentric 
widely  known  and  noted  traveling  Methodist  preacher,  who  preached 
salvation  for  all  rather  than  for  a  select  few,  as  he  implied  that  some 
denominations  were  preaching.  His  travels  carried  him  through  nearly  all 
the  then  settled  parts  of  the  country.  He  also  preached  in  England  and 
Ireland. 

The  physicians  during  the  century  were  Dr.  Dan.  Arnold,  I  think 
from  the  18th  century,  but  I  think  not  much  in  practice  at  the  19th  cen- 
tury's commencement.  Dr.  John  S.  Peters,  mentioned  above,  from  1797 
to  1834.  Dr.  Orrin  C.  White  from  1830  to  1866  or  1867,  Dr.  Elijah  A. 
Woodward  from  1844  to  1855,  Dr.  Adam  Craig  from  1854  to  1863,  from 
1863  to  April,  1864,  Dr.  Stephen  Pomeroy,  and  from  April,  1864,  Dr. 
Cyrus  H.  Pendleton.  In  addition  to  Pomeroy  the  physicians  who  were 
here  for  short  periods  were  Dr.  Samuel  Simons  from  1816  to  1821,  Dr. 
Gaylord  Welles  from  1818  to  1820,  Dr.  Charles  Dowse  from  1834  to  1837, 
Dr.  Wm.  L.  M.  Brown  a  year  or  two  ,  about  1870. 

The  decline  of  the  town  in  population  and  wealth  began  probably  near 
75  years  ago.  The  population  by  the  census  of  1800  before  the  incorpor- 
ation of  Marlborough  was  2,256, 'by  that  of  1810,  after  a  part  of  its  terri- 
tory was  taken  to  form  Marlborough  2,002,  by  that  of  1820,2,094.  In  1830 
its  population  v/as  1,937,  in  1840,  1,726,  in  1850  after  a  part  of  the  town 
was  taken  to  form  Andover,  1,345,  in  1860,  1,425,  in  1870,  1,279,  in  1880, 
1,243,  in  1890,  1,039,  and  in  1900,  1,016.  For  the  last  50  years  or  more 
manufacturing  has  been  gradually  leaving  the  town,  till  now  the  business 
of  the  town  is  almost  entirely  agriculture. 

Our  town  has  suffered  and  is  still  suffering  from  the  emigration  of  our 
young  people  to  the  west,  and  to  centers  of  population,  and  by  too  many 
of  them  preferring  almost  any  other  business  to  agriculture.  For  the  past 
50  years  we  have  educated  our  young  people  to  a  greater  extent  than  pre- 
viously, and  to  too  great  an  extent  for  the  town's  welfare  we  have  edu- 
cated them  away  from  us.  They  have  been  encouraged  to  think  agricul- 
ture not  only  a  somewhat  poor  and  ignoble  business,  but  also  disreputable 
for  one  with  sufficient  education  for  a  business  career,  or  a  profession;  and 
as  a  result  those  we  have  lost  have  been  the  most  enterprising  and 
promising 

Many  family  names  more  or  less  numerous  in  the  town's  early  history 
are  no  longer  met  with  on  the  town's  records;  the  homes  they  occupied 
abandoned,  or  added  to  the  farms  of  adjoining  proprietors,  or  purchased 
by  those  of  foreign  birth,  Irish.  Germans,  and  latterly  Hebrews.  I  can't 
help  regretting  to  see  so  many  of  our  yoving  people  seeming  to  think  of 
the  place  of  their  nativity  in  the  country,  as  only  a  good  place  to  get  away 
from.  What  the  end  will  be,  who  knows?  But  let  us  hope  for  the  best. 
There  seems  to  be  some  indications  of  better  things. 

After  a  band  selection  Miss  Susan  B.  Pendleton,  a  graduate 
of  the  Willimantic  Normal  School  and  a  daughter  of  Dr.  C.  H. 

65 


Pendleton,  the  historian  of  the  second  hundred  years,  read  the 
anniversary  poem,  which  she  had  composed  for  the  occasion.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  charmingly  conceived  literary  features  of  the 
celebration  and  received  repeated  applause. 


HEBRON. 

BY   MISS   SUSAN   B.   PENDLETON 

The  silence  lay  o'er  vale  and  hill, 

The  virgin  woods  were  very  still; 

No  sound,  no  voice  of  man  was  heard, 

Only  the  west  winds  gently  stirred 

The  treetops  fair,  in  sunlight  steeped, 

And  circling  wild  birds  screamed  and  dipped. 

Within  that  forest  depth  the  bear. 

The  timid  fawn,  the  antlered  deer. 

The  wolf  and  panther  found  a  home. 

And  furtive  through  its  paths  would  roam. 

And  sometimes  to  its  beauteous  brooks 

And  ponds,  in  leaf  hid,  lonely  nooks. 

By  fragrant  shores,  the  red  men  came. 

Seeking  their  prey  of  fish  and  game. 

Then  rose  their  shrill,  exultant  yells, 

As,  leaping  through  the  echoing  dells. 

They  bore,  with  wild  and  savage  grace. 

The  hard  won  trophies  of  the  chase. 

Two  hundred  years — a  little  more — 

'Twas  wilderness  from  shore  to  shore; 

A  lonely  land  of  silent  dreams. 

How  very  long  ago  it  seems; 

And  yet,  the  lives  of  two  old  men 

Could  almost  span  the  time  since  when 

The  white  men  came — so  runs  the  tale — 

Pushing  their  way  with  blazed  trail. 

To  make  them  in  the  wilderness 

Homes  which  they  prayed  that  God  might  bless. 

"Hebron,"  they  called  it,  resting  here 

With  thankful  hearts  and  humble  prayer. 

And  so  there  grew,  and  so  there  throve. 

The  little  village  of  their  love; 

Its  church  spires  pointed  to  the  sky. 

Its  prayers  and  hymns  arose  on  high, 

Its  youths  and  maidens  grew  apace 

In  godly  love  and  pious  grace. 

A.nd  it  was  not  unknown  to  fame; 

Learned  judges,  doctors,  gave  the  name 

Of  Hebron,  influence  and  weight 

As  well  through  nation  as  in  state. 

66 


Oh!  Hebron!  still  for  thee  we  hold 
A  love  as  dear  as  theirs  of  old, 
Though  progress,  in  the  years  that  fly, 
Has  seemed  to  turn  and  pass  thee  by. 
Hebron!  how  many  a  heart  has  stirred. 
What  eyes  have  moistened  at  that  word; 
How  doth  the  very  name  suggest 
Comfort  and  kindliness  and  rest, 
Home  folks  and  homely,  pleasant  cheer. 
Associations,  old  and  dear. 
A  little,  fair,  sequestered  town. 
Upon  its  hill  side  nestled  down — 
A  little  town,  it  sometimes  seems. 
That  softly  sleeps,  and  gently  dreams, 
So  quiet  are  its  nights  and  days, 
So  indolent  its  shaded  ways. 

A  brook  there  is  all  children  know. 
Upon  whose  banks  the  wild  flowers  grow ; 
A  brook  that  from  its  hill  runs  down. 
And  wanders,  wanders,  past  the  town. 
Delays  to  turn  the  miller's  wheel, 
Fretting  its  rocky  banks  a  deal; 
And  as  it  glides  and  gleams  along. 
Still  sings  its  low,  unceasing  song, 
Whose  burden  seems,  now  swift,  now  slow, 
"I  want  to  go,  I  want  to  go;" 
Forever  murmuring  on  its  way,  ^^ 
"I  will  not  stay,  I  will  not  stay." 

Oh,  eager,  hurrying,  restless  brook! 

Young  eyes  there  are  on  you  that  look; 

Young  wistful  souls,  that  sometimes  say, 

"We,  too,  would  fare  as  far  away — 

To  wondrous  cities,  dim  and  grand. 

Which  seem  a  shining  fairyland. 

Where  dreams  come  true,  and  shadow-free, 

The  heart's  desire  is  brought  to  be. 

You  find,  oh,  brooklet,  what  you  seek; 

I  know,  I  know,  you  find  the  creek. 

You  find  the  river  and  the  sea; 

And  should  I  follow,  follow  free. 

Ah!  who  can  tell  what  waits  me  there. 

Of  fame,  of  fortune  kind  and  fair. 

What  dreams,  what  longing  and  what  hope, 

What  fuller  life,  what  richer  scope!" 

So,  following  their  restless  wills. 

They  leave  the  town  among  the  hills 

For  the  wide  world  that  lures  away. 

They  want  to  go.     They  will  not  stay. 

And  many  find  that  which  they  seek, 

As  finds  the  rivulet  the  creek. 

The  river  and  the  shining  sea; 

Bright  hopes  and  longings  brought  to  be — 

Have  gained  them  joy  and  wealth  and  fame 

67 


Have  won  a  proud  and  honored  name. 
Yet  ever,  as  in  rainbow  chase. 
Perhaps  have  missed  some  subtle  grace, 
Soine  secret  yearning  unattained. 
Which  might  be  sought,  but  never  gained. 
And  some  have  toiled  through  weary  years. 
Have  sown  in  grief  and  reaped  in  tears; 
Perhaps  through  failure  learned  to  press 
Toward  something  better  than  success. 
And  some  among  the  martyred  slain. 
On  bloody  battlefields  have  lain. 
Yet  others  listening  to  the  voice 
That  calls  away,  made  milder  choice. 
Listened,  and  listening,  doubtless  yearned. 
But  back  to  the  old  home  have  turned. 
"Homekeeping  hearts  are  happiest." 
And  this  is  home,  and  peace  and  rest. 


And  here  and  there,  on  quiet  street, 
Dwell,  unaffectedly  and  sweet 
Such  lovely,  all  but  sinless  souls. 
Dear  saints,  who  lack  but  aureoles; 
Saint  Lucy,  young  at  ninety  five. 
Serene,  and  glad  to  be  alive; 
Saint  Annis,  good  as  beaten  gold. 
Loved  and  revered  by  young  and  old. 

And  some  who  listened  to  the  call 
Of  that  far  world — not  all,  not  all  — 
But  some  of  them — are  here  to-day, 
To  meet  again  with  us  who  stay; 
To  wander  through  the  village  street, 
Old  paths  to  tread,  old  friends  to  greet; 
To  seek,  with  mingled  joy  and  pain, 
Old  dear,  familiar  ways  again. 

Those  lips  we  touched,  those  hands  we  pressed, 

Our  dearest,  truest  and  our  best. 

Whose  faces  we  shall  see  no  more 

Until  we  gain  another  shore, — 

Those  faces  that  we  ne'er  forget, 

Perhaps,  unseen,  are  with  us  yet; 

Are  looking  on,  with  loving  eye — 

Not  from  some  faint  and  far  off  sky, 

Not  from  some  lonely  realm,  apart. 

But  mingling  with  us,  heart  to  heart; 

And  let  us  think  of  them  again 

With  hallowed  joy  and  not  with  pain. 

Take  happily  our  holiday; 

Let  love  and  joy  and  mirth  hold  sway; 

It  may  be  Heaven,  with  all  its  bliss, 

Is  not  so  dift'erent  from  this; 

Perhaps  to-day,  at  least,  we  see 

Faint  visions  of  its  joys  to  be. 

68 


Dear,  little,  good,  old  Hebron  town, 
Forever  keep  thy  fair  renown; 
Thy  quiet  charm  forever  hold. 
And  be  thou  steadfast  as  of  old 
In  love  of  God  and  right— Ah,  yes! 
Better  the  lonely  wilderness, 
Better  the  wild  beasts  prowling  yet. 
Than  that  thy  growing  young  forget 
The  old  time  reverence  and  love 
For  fellow  men.     For  God  above. 

And  welcome,  friends  from  far  and  near! 
We're  glad  to  see  you,  glad  you're  here; 
To  hear  you  speak,  to  see  you  smile, 
If  only  for  a  little  while. 
We're  glad  to  see  you,  very  glad, 
And  should  the  parting  make  us  sad, 
Why,  come  again!     To  the  Old  Home, 
Always  to  hear,  "We're  glad  you've  come!' 


"Tidings  from  our  Children"  were  heard,  "Marlborough,  our 
elder,"  by  Miss  Mary  Hall,  and  "Andover,  our  younger,"  by 
Roger  E.  Phelps,  Esq.,  each  of  whom  were  introduced  by  the 
chairman. 


69 


INTRODUCTION  OF  MISS  MARY  HALL, 
of  Marlborough. 


It  now  becomes  my  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  the  repre- 
sentative of  Hebron's  oldest  descendant — the  Town  of  Marl- 
borough, and  the  one  who  carried  the  burdens  of  the  Marlborough 
Centennial  in  1903  principally  upon  her  shoulders  and  who 
deserves  in  a  large  degree  the  credit  of  its  success.  Her  affection 
for  the  hills  and  vales  of  her  native  place  is  best  portrayed  in  her 
own  beautiful  words  spoken  at  the  Marlborough  Centennial, — 

"I  turn  my  steps  this  way,  now  that  life's  burdens  are  upon 
me,  with  a  delight  that  is  too  sacred  to  be  spoken,  and  when  the 
working  days  are  over  I  expect  to  see  the  sun  go  down  behind  the 
Marlborough  hills,  and  await  the  resurrection  morning  from  its 
sacred  soil  with  my  ancestors." 

I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  Miss  Mary  Hall, 
"Apostle  of  Marlborough"  and  Manager  of  the  Good  Will  Club 
of  Hartford. 

MISS  HALL'S  ADDRESS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

The  ecclesiastical  society  of  Marlborough  was  thoroughly  aroused 
over  the  matter  of  incorporation  as  a  town  105  years  ago  this  August. 
For  twenty  years  she  had  been  asking  the  General  Assembly  to  grant  her 
request  for  incorporation  and  had  been  refused.  But  the  people  who  had 
had  the  persistence  to  keep  at  the  work  of  building  a  meeting  house  for 
54  years,  having  just  finished  it,  and  being  about  to  settle  a  new  minister, 
were  not  easily  discouraged.     They  tried  again  and  won. 

The  long  and  tedious  struggle  for  incorporation  being  now  over,  a 
town  meeting  was  called  and  officers  elected,  and  the  town  started  out 
prosperous  and  well  pleased  with  its  new  conditions. 

The  ecclesiastical  society  was  made  up  of  some  of  the  best  blood  in  the 
colony.  They  built  for  themselves  very  handsome  houses  and  lived  in  a 
style  unknown  to  the  town  since  that  time.  Among  those  foremost  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  church  and  society  were  Epaphras  and  Ichabod 
Lord,  sons  of  Richard  Lord,  and  both  graduates  of  Yale  College.  Their 
mother,  then  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge  of  Hartford,  had, 
with  others,  made  large  purchases  of  lands  in  what  was  then  a  part  of 
Colchester  (later  set  off  to  Marlborough)  and  turned  these  lands  over  to 
these  two  sons  with  the  expectation  that  some  day  a  flourishing  town 
might  materialize. 

The  Hebron  .section  was  represented  by  William  Buell,  senior,  who 
was  early  active  in  the  new  society,  and  was  foremost  in  the  activities  of 
town    incorporation. 

70 


The  Glastonbury  section  was  equally  active,  but  had  too  many  bur- 
dens imposed  upon  it  by  its  home  town  to  be  of  much  service  to  Marl- 
borough. 

The  part  which  Hebron  played  in  giving  prompt  consent  to  the  sepa- 
ration from  the  mother  town  and  church  has  always  commanded  my 
highest  regard,  Hebron  standing  first  as  to  an  ideal  motherhood  among 
the  three  towns  from  which  the  territory  of  the  town  of  Marlborough  was 
gathered.  She  was  an  ideal  mother  in  many  ways,  having  the  child's 
interest  at  heart;  gladly  bidding  the  petitioning  taxpayers  take  up  their 
new  duties  and  try  their  own  wings  in  the  matter  of  town  government. 

I  must  be  excused  for  calling  attention  to  my  personal  interest  in 
Hebron.  My  grandfather,  Ezra  Hall,  as  well  as  his  wife,  were  born  here, 
and  their  homestead  sites  and  those  of  their  fathers  are  still  points  of 
interest  with  me.  They  were  both  residents  of  Hebron  until  after  the 
incorporation  of  Marlborough,  and  remained  so  until  their  marriage  in 
1808.  My  grandfather  began  purchasing  land  in  Marlborough  in  1806, 
three  years  after  the  incorporation  of  the  town,  and  took  his  bride  to  the 
little  home  he  had  purchased  on  the  banks  of  the  Ungushet,  or  Blackledge 
river.  Here  he  added  to  his  holdings  a  lumber  mill,  which  these  same 
waters  supplied  with  power.  Here  my  father,  Gustavus  Ezra  Hall,  their 
only  child,  was  born,  and  here  my  father  took  his  bride,  and  here  we,  his 
children,  were  born,  all  on  Joshua's  former  holdings.  Our  play  days  and 
our  work  days  of  childhood  were  all  passed  in  the  valley  of  the  Ungushet. 
And  one  of  my  first  lessons  in  town  lines  was  given  me  by  my  father  on 
my  first  trip  to  Hebron  with  him,  the  heap  of  stones  being  pointed  out. 

I  am  glad  to  greet  you  personally  because  of  this ;  and  may  I  add  that 
the  tory  blood  in  my  veins  adds  a  tie  and  a  greeting.  For  many  years 
Marlborough  was  a  child  to  be  proud  of.  Her  lake  Turramuggus  was  not 
only  a  gem  in  its  emerald  setting  of  wooded  hills,  but  its  waters  were 
utilized  in  propelling  the  machinery  of  two  large  cotton  mills,  the  number 
of  operatives  exceeding  the  present  population  of  the  town.  Upon  its 
principal  river — Blackledge — a  considerable  lumber  and  grain  business 
was  carried  on,  while  on  other  streams  lumber  and  other  mills  were  in 
operation.  The  homes  were  substantially  built,  and  church  and  school 
matters  were  carefully  and  conscientiously  looked  after. 

For  a  century,  Marlborough  as  a  society  and  a  town,  gave  promise 
of  becoming  one  of  the  many  flourishing  towns  of  the  state.  Her  natural 
attractions  were  many.  Her  soil  responded  quickly  to  cultivation,  and 
her  altitude  made  long  life  possible. 

Marlborough  greets  you  to-day  from  its  ancient  cemetery  where 
rests  the  sacred  dust  of  its  founders, — from  the  silence  of  the  old  home- 
steads, now  in  ashes,  or  owned  or  leveled  by  the  hand  of  the  foreigner, 
whose  utter  disregard  for  our  local  history  is  seen  on  every  hand — from 
her  wooded  hilltops  and  once  broad  sweep  of  meadows — from  her  lake 
Turramuggus,  still  beautiful,  with  few  marks  of  age — from  her  Ungushet 
waters,  now  nearly  lost  in  the  tangled  growth  of  briars  and  weeds — from 
her  picturesque  Tuhi  rock,  which  old  Tuhi  might  have  difficulty  in  finding 
to-day — and  from  her  empty  schoolhouses  and  churches.  The  names 
of  her  founders  have  disappeared  or  are  disappearing. 

We,  the  descendants  of  former  residents  of  Marlborough,  though  few 
in  number,  and  with  blood  diluted,  are  glad  to-day  to  greet  you  and  rejoice 
with  you  on  this  200th  birthday  anniversary. 

I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  voice  the  lines  of  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  in  "Old  Ironsides",  which  have  been  passing  through  my  mind 
since  entering  Marlborough  for  my  vacation  this  summer  as  I  have  looked 
aboiit  the  town,  as  expressing  my  feeling  of  despair  for  dear  old  Marl- 

71 


borough — about  which  all  the  memories  of  my  childhood  cluster: 

"Nail  to  the  mast  her  holy  flag, 
Set  every  threadbare  sail, 
And  give  her  to  the  God  of  storms. 
The  lightning  and  the  gale." 


72 


INTRODUCTION  OF  ROGER  E.  PHELPS, 
Of  Andover. 


It  is  eminently  fitting  that  we  now  hear  from  a  representative 
from  Andover— which  was  a  part  of  Hebron  until  1848.  Mr. 
Roger  E.Phelps,  of  Andover, is  a  descendant  in  the  7th  generation 
from  Lieutenant  Timothy  Phelps,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  a 
member  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  highly  respected  families 
of  Hebron.  His  great-grandfather  was  a  Lieutenant  at  the  time 
of  the  Lexington  alarm  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

I  present  to  you  Mr.  Phelps. 

ADDRESS  OF  R.  E.  PHELPS. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

It  is  a  pleasure,  and  I  esteem  it  a  privilege  and  honor  as  well,  as  a 
native  of  the  town  of  Hebron  and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  the  town,  to  participate  in  the  festivities  of  this  occasion. 

Four  of  my  forefathers  on  the  paternal  side  were  residents  of  Hebron, 
and  the  earlier  years  of  my  life  were  passed  here.  My  residence  now  is  in 
the  part  of  Andover  which  formerly  belonged  to  Hebron. 

As  I  have  been  requested  to  give  a  brief  history  of  Andover  since  its 
incorporation  as  a  town,  I  have  collected  a  few  items  from  records  in  the 
town. 

I  find  the  Andover  Society  was  incorporated  in  1747,  and  the  church 
was  organized  Feb.,  1749.  The  first  church  edifice  began  to  be  used  in 
1752. 

Dr.  Samuel  Lockwood  was  pastor  from  1748  until  1791;  Rev.  Royal 
Tyler  from  1792-1817;  Rev.  Augustus  Collins  from  1818-1827 ;  Rev.  Alpha 
Miller,  1829-1851;  Rev.  John  R.  Freeman  was  ordained  and  installed 
June  24,  1856.  His  pastorate  closed  in  1865.  Rev  Samuel  Ingraham 
supplied  from  June,  1868  to  March,  1871 ;  was  ordained  in  Andover,  June, 
1869.  Rev.  S.  G.  W.  Rankin  of  Glastonbury  supplied  the  pulpit  from 
1871-1873.  For  several  years  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  students  of 
theological  seminaries  and  others.  Rev.  E.  W.  Merritt  was  pastor  from 
1888-1892;  Rev.  G.  A.  Curtis  from  Jan.,  1893-1896;  Rev.  Oliver  Brown 
five  years  from  Sept.,  1896;  Rev.  Wm.  N.  Noyes  from  Jan.,  1902-Julv,  1903 
Rev.  Wm.  M.  Weeks  from  July,  1904-Aug.,  1907.  The  present  Congre- 
gational Church  was  dedicated  Oct.  28,  1833. 

On  March  14,  1826,  at  a  council  of  Baptist  Churches  inckiding 
churches  of  Lebanon,  Mansfield  and  Manchester,  a  request  was  made  by 
the  branch  of  the  church  in  Tolland  to  be  constituted  a  church  of  Christ. 
The  council  voted  to  fellowship  said  branch  as  a  church  of  Christ. 

The  Baptist  Church  in  Andover  was  built  in  1831.  Pastors  of  the 
society  and  church  are  Wm.  Bentley,  Simon  Shailer,  Chester  Tilden, 
Albert  G.  Palmer,  Wm.  Bowen,  J.  B.  Ballard,  Ebenezer  Loomis,  John  M. 

73 


Hunt.  Charles  W.  Potter,  A.  A.  Robinson,  George  Mixter,  Roswell  G. 
Lamb,  Urijah  Underwood,  Watson  A.  Worthington,  B.  F.  Chapman,  A.  J. 
Harrington,    Darius   Stoddard,   M.   Kinne,   Alfred   Gates,   David   Avery, 

D.  S.  Ha\Yley,  Andrew  S.  Lovell,  Thomas  Dowling,  F.  Bestor,  Hiram  A. 
Morgan,  J.  A.  Bailey,  John  G.  Ware,  Charles  Willett,  J.  W.  Searll,  B.  J. 
Savage,  Charles  N.  Nichols,  Julius  B.  Robinson,  F.  J.  Coops  and  Edgar  T. 
Hatfield,  now  in  charge. 

The  Andover  Library  was  established  in  1888  by  donations  of  Thos. 

E.  Porter,  Henry  C.  Robinson  and  others,  and  was  made  a  free  public 
library  by  vote  of  the  town  a  few  years  later.  It  now  contains  about  3,000 
volumes. 

A  grange  was  organized  in  1888  and  has  at  this  time  about  50  mem- 
bers. 

Consolidation  of  schools  was  voted  Oct.  8,  1888. 

The  Andover  Creamery  Association  was  formed  in  1886.  On  Oct.  10  , 
1887,  cream  gathering  commenced  on  three  routes  that  extend  into  all  ad- 
joining towns. 

A  paper  mill  was  erected  in  1889  by  Frederick  Case  of  Manchester. 
The  plant  was  enlarged  during  the  last  year  by  the  addition  of  another 
building. 

A  town  hall  was  built  in  1892  and  a  schoolhouse  in  1903,  for  accom- 
modation of  two  schools. 

There  are  three  stores  in  Andover  kept  respectively,  by  F.  A.  Sackett 
who  is  town  clerk  and  treasurer  and  judge  of  the  Andover  Probate  District, 
Lucius  D.  Post,  postmaster,  and  Addison  Frink  who  is  also  proprietor  of 
the  hotel. 

Grain,  flour,  etc.,  is  sold  at  the  mill  known  as  Bingham's  Mill,  where 
custom  grinding  is  done,  Fred  Olds,  proprietor. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Cook  has  recently  erected  a  new  building  for  better  accom- 
modation in  his  printing  business. 

Mail  is  taken  from  the  Andover  post  oflfice  for  distribution,  on  two 
routes  that  extend  into  adjoining  towns. 

The  old  cemetery  known  as  the  Townsend  Burying  Ground  has 
lately  been  enlarged  by  addition  of  2  1-2  acres 

Andover  has  been  represented  in  the  legislature  by  Gurley  Phelps, 
Adonijah  White,  Wm.  Dorrance,  Horace  Jones,  John  Perkins,  Alfred  N. 
Fitch,  Eleazar  White,  Wm.  W.  Strong,  Benjamin  Sprague,  Daniel  P. 
Sprague,  Norman  Loomis,  Edwin  C.  Bolles,  Thomas  R.  Jones,  Milo  N. 
Loomis,  Orrin  A.  Lincoln,  Wm.  B.  Kingsbury,  Alfred  Bishop,  James  H. 
Marsh,  Geo.  W.  Webster,  Andrew  Phelps,  John  S.  Topliff,  Jasper  A.  Fitch, 
Walter  Abbey,  W^ alter  Bishop,  Daniel  M.  Burnap,  Myron  P.  Yeomans, 
Eli  H.  Perkins,  Bissell  E.  Po.st,  Roger  E.  Phelps,  Wm.  C.  Walker,  Elliot  P. 
Skinner,  Erastus  D.  Post,  S.  Henry  Daggett,  Asahel  P.  Lathrop,  Charles  F. 
Lincoln,  Charles  B.  Perkins,  Wm.  A.  Brown,  Wm.  C.  White,  Henry  G. 
Dorrance,  Charles  L.  Backus,  Albert  H.  Lyman,  Edgar  D.  White,  Henry  F. 
Standish,  Edwin  L.  Hutchinson,  Wm.  S.  Bishop,  Selah  A.  Burnham. 

Daniel  P.  Sprague,  Wm.  Dorrance  and  Wm.  B.  Sprague  of  Andover 
have  been  members  of  the  senate. 

Gurley  Phelps,  Wm.  W.  Strong,  Andrew  Phelps,  Wm.  B.  Sprague 
and  Fred  A.  Sackett  have  held  the  office  of  Probate  Judge  for  the  district 
of  Andover. 

My  recollection  goes  back  to  what  may  be  termed  the  business  days 
of  Hebron;  when  the  furnace  and  factories  in  the  lower  part  of  the  town 
were  in  operation;  when  we  had  the  tanner,  the  tailor,  the  hatter,  the 
cooper,  the  cabinet  maker;  the  butcher,  the  baker,  the  candlestick  maker, 
and  none  of  them  gone  to  the  fair.     There  were  not  many  fairs  in  those 

74 


days,  but  I  remember  there  was  a  cattle  show  on  this  very  spot,  more  than 
sixty  years  ago  it  must  have  been.  There  were  some  fine  oxen,  a  few 
shoats,  and  some  South  Down  sheep.  Bissell  E.  Post  of  Gilead  was  one 
of  the  exhibitors.  Mr.  Post  is  now  a  resident  of  Andover,  but  I  see  him 
here  to-day  bearing  easily  the  weight  of  ninety  years. 

In  that  building  on  the  corner  just  across  the  street,  where  Major  Post 
kept  store,  my  first  boots  were  made  .  They  were  of  oak  tan  leather 
and  there  was  no  shoddy  in  them.  In  those  days  boys  remembered 
their  first  pair  of  boots  if  they  had  any.  Some  of  them  poked  snow  out 
of  their  shoes  until  grown  to  manhood.  I  speak  of  those  boots  in  order  to 
introduce  the  name  of  the  maker  Henry  H.  Fitch,  uncle  of  J.  A.  Fitch  of 
Manchester  and  Asa  Fitch  of  Hartford.  Mr.  Fitch  removed  to  Hartford 
and  there  filled  positions  of  honor  and  responsibility. 

I  would  mention  also  John  M.  Way,  father  of  our  worthy  chairman; 
Flavius  A.  Brown,  Lucius  J.  Hendee,  Alonzo  W.  Birge  of  Andover  and 
Ezra  Hall  of  Marlborough.  These  and  many  others  from  Hebron  and 
adjoining  towns  have  been  prominent  as  business  men  of  Hartford  and 
other  cities;  many  of  them  went  from  the  shop  or  the  farm  and  were  not 
equipped  with  what  might  be  called  a  liberal  education.  They  had  no 
extra  letters  affixed  to  their  names,  but  they  did  have  a  good  share  of 
natural  ability  and  common  sense,  something  not  furnished  at  Hunt- 
singer's  or  Yale.  The  country  has  ever  been  making  contributions  to  the  . 
cities  by  furnishing  men  of  brains  and  brawn. 

As  of  the  Irish  there  are  more  in  this  country  than  in  Ireland,  so  of  the 
Hebronites  and  their  descendants,  there  are  more  outside  the  town  than 
in  the  town.  Her  sons  and  daughters  have  gone  forth  into  wider  fields 
of  labor.  They  may  be  found  in  all  parts  from  coast  to  coast,  from 
Alaska  to  the  Philippines.  (I  notice  one  of  our  Alaska  boys,  Chester 
Tenant  here  to-day.)  Were  they  all  to  be  gathered  together  there  would 
be  a  number  sufficient  to  form  a  city.  From  their  ranks  could  be  filled 
offices  of  every  profession.  They  could  furnish  artisans  of  every  trade, 
children  to  fill  school  houses  and  a  governor  from  either  party. 

Of  the  descendants  of  my  grandfather  Phelps,  but  two  are  living  in 
Hebron,  while  there  are  more  than  a  hundred  and  forty  outside  the  town, 
some  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  others  scattered  through  the  country  from 
Michigan  to  the  Carolinas. 

As  I  have  said  the  cities  are  deeply  indebted  to  the  country,  but  we 
must  give  them  some  credit  if  only  once  in  two  hundred  years  they  give 
back  some  of  our  boys  and  girls  to  help  out  on  such  an  occasion  as  this. 
I  believe  the  great  rush  to  the  cities  is  over,  at  least  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  Our  cities  will  undoubtedly  grow,  but  I  cannot  believe  it  will 
be  at  the  expense  of  the  country,  as  in  the  past. 

As  the  cities  become  more  and  more  congested,  there  will  be  a 
corresponding  overflow  from  them  to  the  country.  Even  now  residents 
of  New  York  and  other  cities  are  buying  farms  and  residences  in  this 
vicinity. 

I  believe  in  time  these  acres  will  all  be  utilized  and  beautified,  and 
that  city  and  country  will  so  blend,  that  one  will  hardly  know  where  one 
begins  and  the  other  ends. 

Hebron  may  become  a  suburb  of  some  city.  Perhaps  of  Hartford 
coming  via  Manchester,  or  of  Willimantic  via  Columbia. 

We  are  going  at  a  fast  pace.  This  old  fashioned  lightning  is  pretty 
slow  for  our  use,  but  I  suppose  we  will  have  to  jog  along  with  it  unless 
our  neighbors  over  in  Mars  send  us  something  that  will  serve  our  purpose 
better. 

This  is  a  great  day  for  Hebron!     The  cloudless  sky,  the  large  number 

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present,  the  enlivening  music,  the  distinguished  visitors  who  have  taken 
part  in  the  interesting  exercises  to  which  we  have  listened,  conspire  to 
make  it  a  day  long  to  be  remembered. 

Never  before  was  such  a  throng  assembled  on  this  Green!  Never 
before  did  the  people  of  the  town,  meet  so  many  friends  and  acquaintances 
from  distant  and  neighboring  towns. 

To-day  as  we  listen  to  the  historians  of  the  town,  and  as  we  meet 
and  greet  our  friends  of  bygone  days,  our  thoughts  are  of  those  who  have 
acted  their  part  upon  the  stage  of  life  and  passed  from  earthly  scenes 
away. 

Those  forms  once  animate  that  moved  upon  these  streets  and  in  the 
dwellijigs  of  this  town  are  gone  from  view.  Their  dust  is  enshrined  in 
these  hills  and  valleys;  and  in  contemplation  of  their  silent  abodes  we 
may  say  with  the  poet : 

"Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest; 
Some  Cromwell,  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood". 

"Full  many  a  gem,  of  purest  ray  serene. 
The  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear; 
Full  many  a  fiower  is  bom  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air". 

If  their  names  are  not  inscribed  upon  the  scroll  of  fame,  from  their 
worthy  deeds  their  self-sacrificing  lives  and  parental  care,  comes  the 
inspiration  that  prompts  us  to  gather  here  to-day  to  honor  and  reverence 
their  names,  and  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  lives. 


Five  minute  speeches  from  our  sons  abroad  were  then  called 
for  and  responses  were  made  by  Bissell  E.  Post,  Mrs.  Anna  E. 
Marsh  and  Edgar  D.  White  of  Andover,  Clair  S.  Hutchinson  of 
Hartford,  Dr.  Charles  J.  Douglas  and  Mrs.  Ida  A.  Douglas  of 
Boston,  Mrs.  Kate  T.  Way,  Mrs.  Minnie  Sumner  Preston,  of 
Lincoln,  Neb.  and  others. 

The  audience  then  joined  in  singing  "My  Country  'Tis  of 
Thee"  and  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Hart,  in  the  absence  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fitzgerald,  who  was  assigned 
to  that  duty. 

During  the  entire  day  opportunity  was  taken  for  a  renewal 
of  old  friendships  by  many  who  had  not  met  for  years,  and  es- 
pecially during  the  closing  hours  of  the  exercises  and  while  the 
visitors  were  preparing  to  depart.  As  the  sun  declined,  the 
Committee  on  Transportation  was  again  taxed  to  its  utmost  to 
provide  conveyance  to  the  railroad  for  the  parting  guests,  but 
all  were  safely  deposited  at  the  station  in  time  for  the  last  train. 

In  the  evening  a  reception  was  held  at  the  old  Arnold  home- 

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stead,  now  owned  by  a  descendant, Miss  Caroline  E.  Kellogg,  who 
kindly  opened  her  home  to  the  public.  The  hostess  and  her 
brother,  Mr.  D.  Arnold  Kellogg,  were  assisted  in  receiving  by 
first  selectman  Edwin  T.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Smith,  and  Chairman 
Way.  The  old  mansion  was  quaintly  decorated  with  antique 
furnishings  and  the  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
occurrences  of  the  week.  A  large  number  partook  of  the  hos- 
pitalities, many  old  acquaintances  were  renewed  and  new  ones 
made,  an  orchestra  was  in  attendance  and  a  collation  served  by 
the  ladies.  The  charm  of  this  reception,  practically  closing  the 
festivities  of  the  week,  made  all  the  participants  feel  that  the 
second  century  of  the  old  town  had  closed  in  a  satisfactory 
manner,  and  the  third  had  begun  most  propitiously. 

A  heavy  rain  accompanied  with  a  high  wind  prevailed  on 
Wednesday,  spoiling  many  plans  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  day, 
but  in  the  evening  the  young  people  presented  the  drama 
"Valley  Farm"  at  the  town  hall,  which  was  very  much  enjoyed. 

On  Thursday,  owing  to  the  storm  of  the  day  previous  and 
the  cool  weather  following,  the  proposed  picnic  at  the  North 
Pond  was  omitted  and  in  the  evening  the  young  people  repeated 
the  entertainment  of  the  evening  previous. 


AND  NOW 

"The  Bicentennial  observances  being  over,  we  turn 

from 

rehearsing  the  history  of  the  past 

to 

the  making  of  the  history  of  the  future." 


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